LOUISVILLE, Ky. -The fragility of thoroughbred racehorses has been hanging over the sport like a long black veil since Eight Belles broke both her front ankles crossing the finish line in last year's Kentucky Derby and had to be euthanized. But the issue was on everyone's mind again Saturday after this year's early favorite, I Want Revenge, was scratched with a tender ankle before the race.
Trainer Jeff Mullins detected a problem with the colt early Saturday morning during a routine check and asked for further examination. After an X-ray and an ultrasound, Dr. Foster Northrop, the attending veterinarian, was unable to determine a cause for the inflammation, but Mullins decided not to take a chance that I Want Revenge could be further injured on the hard, wet track at Churchill Downs.
"We detected a little pressure and a touch of teat in the left front ankle," Mullins said. "We jogged him up and down the asphalt to check for soundness, and he actually jogged pretty well. We flexed the ankle, and he gave to the flexing of the ankle. By that time, Dr. Foster [Northrop] showed up. He jogged him again and he jogged fairly good."
Still, after consulting with co-owner Dave Lanzman, the decision was made to pull the animal from the race.
"I think I've hired the best people in the world to give me the decisions as to what they think we should do," Lanzman said. "When the word came out that running could hurt the horse, I looked at both doctors and said, 'Then this is no debate. What are we talking about? We'll fight another day.' "
The injury was a disappointment for those expecting big things from the 3-year-old colt since he emerged as a serious contender for this year's Run for the Roses after winning the Wood Memorial. Since the morning line was put in the racing program in 1949, no other favorite had scratched on race day. The last major contender to scratch was second choice A.P. Indy in 1992.
Mullins said the injury does not look to be career-threatening.
"I've been in this business kind of all my life," he said. "Most of the things I've learned in this business I've learned by hard knocks in more ways than one. Your biggest dream is to get here, but the biggest nightmare is to get to race day and have to scratch. Right now I don't think it's really sunk in that much, but [it's] pretty disappointing."
