Thanks to the enormous clout of one powerful businesswoman from the US, Subzero has been saved from an almost certain untimely end.

Things were looking grim last week for Heathcote's most famous horse, when the product Flex Plus, the wonder drug which had cured Subzero's arthritic ailments, had been temporarily banned by Australian customs.

But at the eleventh hour, a phone call from the founder of Flex Plus, Nana Patricia McPeak, changed the landscape entirely.

Also known as `Rice Pattie', Nana, who is the head of many companies which rake in billions of dollars annually, developed Flex Plus in 2001, which has proven to be a miracle cure for Subbie.

Once Graham managed to locate Pattie, from Sacramento, the deadlock was broken almost immediately.

He said once he told customs officials last Friday that Pattie was coming out to Australia, the ban on Flex Plus was quickly overturned and his permit application to import the product was speeded up significantly.

``They couldn't believe it when I told them she was flying over to Australia,'' Graham said. ``And neither could I.''

``I had been told the permit application would take up to 14 days to process.

``But as soon as I told them Pattie was on her way to Australia, the permit had been faxed to my house an hour later.

``I paid a lot less for the permit than I did the previous time I applied, too.

``She's obviously a very powerful woman.''

Pattie is living testament to the product Flex Plus.

After suffering a degree of sickness in her life, she has been taking the human variety of the product. And while she is approaching her 70th year, she looks at least 10 years younger.

The other amazing thing is Pattie was so determined to end Subzero's suffering, she flew 36 hours from the Dominican Republic to get to Heathcote.

She had been working on a humanitarian mission as part of Airlines Ambassadors, of which she is the chairman of the board, delivering similar products to orphanages.

``I had read about the situation in the papers, and received lots of calls about Subzero,'' she said.

``Graham somehow tracked me down and he told me everything.

``I said to myself `this is ridiculous' and I jumped on the next available flight.

``It truly is an international issue. Even the stewardesses on my flight from the states were talking about Subbie.''

The news is so good Subzero is on an even more effective product called Super Flex.

Although it will take up to three weeks to get the product to Heathcote, Subbie has been taking the human variety of the product.

And the effects have been startling. After two days on the product, Subzero is almost back to normal.

``He's been frolicking around the paddock, rolling in the dirt,'' Nana said.

``The inflammation in his ankles has already reduced 50 per cent.

``Before then his eyes were dull, his head was down. I'm just thrilled.''

And for Subzero's loyal owner, the smile is back on his face.

``I'm just so grateful to Nana,'' Graham said.