Afleet Alex Sidelined by Condylar Fracture

[ceejay]

Afleet Alex, dramatic winner of the Preakness and runaway winner of the Belmont Stakes (both gr. I), was operated on yesterday at the New Jersey Equine Clinic after suffering a condylar fracture."It's unfortunate, but not career ending," said Ritchey. "I look forward to Afleet Alex's return to the races. The book isn't over, there are still more chapters to the story. As always, the health of the horse is most important. I believe he will overcome this bump in the road. "Alex recovered well from anesthesia and was back in his stall in short order." Hogan said. He was scheduled to return to Belmont Park Thursday. http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=29245

[Figman]

Trainer Tim Ritchey will be a guest on At the Races and Beyond this
evening at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. At the Races and Beyond can be heard via the internet between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Monday through Friday at
www.attheracesandbeyond.com <http://www.attheracesandbeyond.com/> or on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 125. The program is repeated on Sirius Satellite Radio from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.

[kenwoodallpromos]

Regardless of training and the attempts so far to control drugs, Many horses are sustaining leg injuries. Some of the "classier" horses are just lucky they are not claimers or there injuries would be missed or ignored and AA and others would break down totally in a race.
Even AA with the rigorous training is not immune when racing year round and on hard tracks, and raced 1 1/2 miles after going to its knees 2 weeks prior.
I do not know truthfully if I am just paying more attention or there is more going on.
Even if they seem like isolated incidents, horses and riders are going beyond a reasonable limit. This is evidenced by the jockey dying of heat and riders refusing to mount for a variety of reasons.
I would still like to know what % of TC nominated or KY Derby horses this year have missed races due to leg problems.
There is a story on T Times now about another jockey, Gomez, and his previous drug and booze problems; also a story about the 2 1/16 mile steeplechase at Saratoga which ended in disaster.
Del Mar as an example has been groomed extremely fast lately and those horses training or racing on it will pay sooner or later.
I have said on posts that all tracks should make available to all horses better diagnostic equipment and slow down the tracks.
Sorry if you feel I am going too far off topic; but I think all this happening, especially this year, is more than coincidence; it is greed by the industry and horsemen pushing riders and horses beyond thir limit. And their answer is always to raise the purses, auction prices, takeout, and put in more slots.
So far rewarding horsemen at the expense of attendance has not helped.

[OTM Al]

Sounds like recovery time will be pretty quick for this. Hope so anyway. Maybe he can still make the Super Derby, or something else around that time and be back for the BC. Was really looking forward to his next race, but guess we're going to have to wait a while for it

[JustRalph]

I am leery...........anything they have to put a screw in, would worry me.

[kenwoodallpromos]

Yes, the story says a broken leg gets the horse a 1 week vacation before walking, and 6 weeks before "serious training".
I'd rather be a poor handicapper than a rich horse!LOL!

[OTM Al]

It sounds to me as the sort of injury that would heal fine on its own after a period of time but the horse would have to be completely out of training. I think all the screw is for is to aid in/quicken the healing process. To me at least it is a sign that they will continue racing him.

[kingfin66]

No more racing for him. Unfortunate if it happens, but Smarty Jones could have kept racing. There is just too much at risk with breeding $$$ being so big.

[cj]

I second that prediction, you beat me to it! :)

[OTM Al]

I'm really hoping you both are wrong. The reason I think so is, like I said, if the horse was going out of training, there wouldn't have been a need to operate. Why risk having the horse die under ansthesia when you don't have to. I know the percentages are small on that, but still, there wouldn't be any need to take them if they weren't going to run him anymore. They simply could have just came out and said he has a fracture in his leg and he's being retired and that would have been accepted.

[Suff]

Sucks. I was looking forward to seeing him race. (again).

That's how it is nowadays..if you don't see the greats at 3....you don't see them. cept for photo's

[kingfin66]

I'm really hoping you both are wrong. The reason I think so is, like I said, if the horse was going out of training, there wouldn't have been a need to operate. Why risk having the horse die under ansthesia when you don't have to. I know the percentages are small on that, but still, there wouldn't be any need to take them if they weren't going to run him anymore. They simply could have just came out and said he has a fracture in his leg and he's being retired and that would have been accepted.


I hope that we are wrong too. I really like this horse. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that they can win a couple of million on the track versus many millions in the breeding shed. It seems like an easy call to make. It has been a few years since we have seen the top 3 year old running in good form during the summer. Even Funny Cide wasn't at the top of his game when he ran after the triple crown.

[CryingForTheHorses]

I second that prediction, you beat me to it! :)

Its very sad,Another big horse down for the count,This is a fracture and it will take a least 6 months to a year to heal, Not to mention stall rest, This will be a very trying time for this active horse,Another thing you need to worry about is infection,He now needs to be looked after very well,Paying very close attention to his feet and to his feed,A inactive horse is prone to colic,Need to keep him oiled so he doesnt get constipatced,Also a chance of founder if his feed isnt regulated.The screw may/can be removed after the fracture heals,Also depends on how big the fracture is and just where it is located on his cannon bone.

[Secretariat]

Shame....BC Classic could have really used the horse.

[depalma13]

Acording to the report, it was a local anesthesia and the horse was never out. I doubt he will return to racing. The syndicates will bring their offers now.

One question I do have. Ritchey was praised for his work schedule of the animal, do you think he may have some regrets? After all, this looks like a stress fracture.

[Whirlaway]

If he's retires, that means 6 of the last 7 Derby winners will not have won a race after their 3-year-old year (Funny Cide the lone exeption.)

[PaceAdvantage]

One question I do have. Ritchey was praised for his work schedule of the animal, do you think he may have some regrets? After all, this looks like a stress fracture.

I'm sure that whenever a trainer has a hurt horse, he second guesses what he might have done to prevent injury.

But many times, it is unavoidable, no matter what. Gingerly raced Ghostzapper is a case in point.

But yeah, it doesn't help my case when a horse like Afleet Alex gets injured (my case being, whether you work them hard, or work them easy, they break down on you).

[Tee]

Acording to the report, it was a local anesthesia and the horse was never out. I doubt he will return to racing. The syndicates will bring their offers now.

One question I do have. Ritchey was praised for his work schedule of the animal, do you think he may have some regrets? After all, this looks like a stress fracture.

Here's another question - Would AA have accomplished what he did w/o his trainers work schedule?

The article from the Blood-horse reports that AA was under general anesthesia for less than 35 minutes.

DRF article reports that the crack was so small that it was hard to find. The screw should push the hairline fracture together & move along the healing process.

I for one would think that AA will be back to the races.

[depalma13]

My bad, I read it wrong on the drf.

As for him winning the Preakness and Belmont, with as bad as those fields were, I think he could have won them regardless of his training schedule. He was winning big races as a two year-old before he started the two a day regimine. So I think he was talented enough.

[Tee]

As for him winning the Preakness and Belmont, with as bad as those fields were, I think he could have won them regardless of his training schedule. He was winning big races as a two year-old before he started the two a day regimine. So I think he was talented enough.

There's talent & then there's the fitness that is required to withstand the rigors of a triple crown campaign. IMHO talent alone isn't going to get it done in any sport.

Now if u want to draw the conclusion that Tim Ritchey's training schedule resulted in a hardly detectable hairline fracture, be my guest.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleindex/article.asp?id=27798

[Bobby]

Yea, I Second kingfin and cj. Alex's last race wuz the Belmont. \

[kenwoodallpromos]

"the crack was so small that it was hard to find".
I am wondering how many are not found in time in the cheaper horses?
PA is right- at least from the equine medical stuff I have read; between the delecateness of the racer'' legs and the training and racing, it is easy for a horse to develop physical stress-related problems over time like microscopic holes in the bones that can often lead to a major "sudden" problem.
Of course there are honestly sudden leg problems in younger, inadequately trained, and/or less conformationally sound horses; but with Tbred racing as it currently is, there is not going to be 1 qujick fix. My argument is that a kinder track, slower and steadier training and more use of diagnostic tools will help. But that may hurt the bottom line.

[JustRalph]

Remember, nobody wanted to buy War Emblem because he had "bone chips" visible on x-rays.............makes you wonder.........

[kenwoodallpromos]

"It's a relatively common type of fracture in Thoroughbred horses," Hogan told The Blood-Horse Thursday morning. "It occurs in the bottom of the cannon bone at the level of the fetlock joint. In Alex's case, it was caught very early before it had the opportunity to progress into a more significant injury."
Meaning they are sometimes not caught early and can have more serious problems.
The National TOBA and other websites say ! month stall rest is usual, but usually LITF is not breathing down the horse's neck for 3 year old of the year.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that LITF stays healthy.

[joeyspicks]

made me sad. really dont think you can blame the trainer.

[Buckeye]

Just found out about this, very disappointing.

I'd say somebody made a mistake.

Trainer or Breeder.

As for the Triple Crown, don't change it (destroy it).

[kenwoodallpromos]

http://www.alphahorse.com/bone-remodeling.html
THis site does not specifically address one type of fracture, but addresses work-induced microfractures in young horses (I was in error when I mentioned Holes).
I would not blame anyone since they are careful to inspect at least their more valuable stock. But if they rush him back too fast and he is re-injured you will hear from me!

[depalma13]

There's talent & then there's the fitness that is required to withstand the rigors of a triple crown campaign. IMHO talent alone isn't going to get it done in any sport.

Now if u want to draw the conclusion that Tim Ritchey's training schedule resulted in a hardly detectable hairline fracture, be my guest.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleindex/article.asp?id=27798

Didn't draw any conclusions, I would just like some reporter to ask the Richey about it.

[OTM Al]

According to this article and what the vet said it sounds like the training Alex had made him an extremely healthy and tough horse. I still think he'll be back. Little snippet in wednesday's DRF says Ritchey is planning to take him down to Gulfstream this winter which likely means the Donn is on their radar.

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=29432