Two days after Geaux Rocket Ride was fitted with new shoes for “tender feet,” the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) contender sustained a condylar fracture in his right front leg during a Saturday morning workout at Santa Anita Park.
Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella told drf.com the fracture broke through the skin, and while there was no sesamoid fracture, the ligaments around it are stretched. Surgery was planned for Sunday at a track property clinic.
“It’s going to be a delicate situation, it’s going to be lucky to make it, but we’re going to do everything we can,” Mandella told drf.com “If it starts to become a detriment, we won’t do it.”
Mandella added the threat of infection “is going to make it an uphill battle.”
#1 Geaux Rocket Ride with Mike Smith riding won the $1,000,000 Grade I TVG.com Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, NJ. 7/22/23. Photo By Ryan Denver/EQUI-PHOTO
The injury occurred near the eighth pole of a 7-furlong workout. With jockey Mike Smith aboard, Geaux Rocket Ride appeared to stumble near the eighth pole. He was then pulled up by the Hall of Fame rider, who dismounted and held the colt’s leg until vets and officials arrived. Smith was uninjured.
The workout had been postponed from Friday, with Mandella saying Geaux Rocket Ride had “tender feet” after being fitted with new shoes. Before the workout, the colt jogged outside his barn in front of several veterinarians who approved him to work.
Geaux Rocket Ride: A Contender with Breeders’ Cup Ambitions
Considered a top contender for the 1 ¼-mile Classic, Geaux Rocket Ride won the Haskell (G1) and finished a head behind Classic contender Arabian Knight in the Pacific Classic (G1) on Sept. 2.
Geaux Rocket Ride, owned by Jim and Dana Bernhard’s Pin Oak Stud, missed the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and the Triple Crown races due to a minor illness, and Mandella is among the most cautious trainers in the business.
“The foot thing is something we’ve dealt with all along,” Mandella told drrf.com. “We jogged him four times, veterinarians, everybody looked at him. I had Mike jog him on the training track, and called him, ‘How does he feel? Oh, boss, great,’” Mandella said.
Geaux Rocket Ride, a son of Candy Ride, won three of five starts, and because of the Mandella-Smith history of winning Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita, the colt would likely have been among the favorites.
Breeders’ Cup vets have been conducting extensive exams on horses almost daily, coordinated with regulatory and track vets.
“This expanded veterinary review protocol is designated to ensure, to the extent possible, every horse made the trip to Santa Anita Park for the World Championships was sound to race and train,” the Breeders’ Cup said in a news release. “We have faith in these processes, which include expanded veterinary exam protocols, increased testing, 24-hour equine surveillance starting Sunday, Oct. 29 for international runners and Tuesday, Oct. 31 for domestic runners, and enhanced reporting requirements.”