After his stunning debut season, Rocket Tiger was sent for a well-earned break in April but was found to have an issue when brought back for work.

Spackman said an injury is never ideal but he's confident the gelding is looking good.

"He's going nice. He's out until January. We'll get him re-assessed by the vets and as soon as the vets give him the all clear, he'll go back into work and be back at it," Spackman said.

"It's just a little hairline fracture of the shoulder. We brought him back in but we weren't happy with him so we sent him off to get checked... it's nothing serious, as such.

"Obviously nobody likes to see anything like that but he's going quite well.

"He's in the paddock, I saw him on the weekend. He thinks he's pretty good and he's ready to get back into work but I told him to take a chill pill and we'll get him back in when we need to."

Rocket Tiger captured attention with back-to-back wins to kick off his career last December, winning first at Canberra and then Royal Randwick on Boxing Day.

He went straight to the group two Silver Slipper and group three Black Opal Stakes, running a place in both, before his 10^th after a tough run in the Golden Slipper at Rosehill... taking connections on an unbelievable ride, including strapper Emily Waters.

"It was crazy. You can't describe it with words. It was absolutely incredible. You never think you'll get to strap a horse like that and you get the opportunity fall in your lap, it was amazing," she said.

While he's in the paddock, Waters is headed for her first race rides. She said the good-natured speedster amplified her interest in racing, and was the first horse she rode in a jump out at Spackman's stables.

She hasn't been on another like him. "Nah, he's a type of his own," Waters said.

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