He was right at death's door!

FORMER classy trotter and now accomplished sire Cardigan Boko is lucky to be alive.

Although the Swedish-bred stallion is ready to return to stud duties at Bellmoure Park, the establishment's owner Mario Borg revealed Cardigan Boko was "at death's door" a fortnight ago.

Borg was away from the property when he received a phone call from his daughter asking if Cardigan Boko was supposed to be lying around.

Borg then gave instructions to try and get the son of Varenne moving, but Cardigan Boko refused to budge.

Rushing home to confirm his worst fear, Borg discovered the 17-year-old was suffering from a severe bout of colic.

"He was in a bad way," Borg said. "I had Bill Habbison come to look at him and Bill said he was in such bad shape he wouldn't make it to the hospital, that he'd die on the float!

"We started working on him straight away. From drips, oils and cleaning out his insides to walking him almost 48 hours non-stop, we did everything we could.

"Thankfully he started coming good and is now back to full health.

"He was right at death's door and I thought for certain he was going to cross over."

Injured as a yearling while being transported from Sweden to Australia, Cardigan Boko was hampered by the aftermath throughout his career, which was limited to 22 wins and five seconds 38 starts.

The handsome black gave glimpses of brilliance with five track records!