McCraken will miss the Tampa Bay Derby with an ankle strain and that is never good news for those that have Kentucky Derby Fever. The unbeaten multiple graded stakes winner will be forced to pass on the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 11. The unfortunate incident happened after he worked on Monday February 27.
Trained by Ian Wilkes, the son of Ghostzapper finished his work in solid fashion and was cooling out at the Palm Meadows Training Center. Nothing was discovered about McCraken until the next morning when X-rays were taken on the ankle. The exam came back clean but Wilkes will be forced run call an audible.
On the Triple Crown Trail, connections never want anything to happen. Just missing a small amount of time can just take the edge off a horse. If that edge is not rejuvenated by the time Churchill Down’s Kentucky Derby comes around, a golden opportunity could go by the wayside.
Granted, this happens every single day in horseracing and it will happen to other horses besides McCraken. Missing the Tampa Bay Derby is preferred rather than missing a prep closer to the Kentucky Derby. The good thing for the trainer is that he is a true professional and he knows what it takes to get his runner back on the right track. The conditioner has already mapped out a plan, Wilkes: “He worked great. He just had a slight strain. I just feel like … the horse comes first. And I don’t want to come back and work him next week for the Tampa Bay Derby. If I have to miss a race, I would rather miss this one, take care of the horse, get him right and run him in the Blue Grass. I’m just going to do what’s right by the horse. He’s taken us this far and taken care of me. So now I need to take care of him and not do something stupid. But I really feel good, I think we’ll be fine.”
The normal treatment for an ankle sprain is to try to get the swelling down. It is done with ice and also a poultice, which I applied personally when I worked on a horse farm in New Jersey as a young man. A poultice is a mix that combines medication and sometimes flour that is applied to the ankle and covered with a cloth. When done correctly, a poultice can work wonders.
Those thoughts help to clear the air about the future of McCraken after his Tampa Bay Derby defection. The brilliant racer has not raced since winning the Grade 3 Sam Davis Stakes in track-record time on February 11. The Blue Grass Stakes will be run at Keeneland on April 8.
That would give McCraken just less than 60 days between races and that works for Wilkes. In the last 5 years Wilkes is 14% when horses returned within 60 days in a Graded stakes. They have a median payoff of over $13 and 42% of those runners were in the money.
Wilkes knows what to do with a good horse too. Wilkes is from Australia and he started his racing career at 16 as a groom and exercise rider. He worked in the stables of some solid Australian trainers including Colin Hayes and arranged through a friend to come to the U.S. and work for trainer Carl Nafzger. In the United States Wilkes galloped horses for a year and a half. Among the horses he climbed aboard during that tour with Nafzger was Unbridled, the 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner,
Wilkes helped Nafzger with the development of 2006 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and with that experience he learned what is needed when he finally got his own hands on a super horse. That chance came in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic. He saddled Fort Larned to win that race and two stars were born.
If things go according to plan even though McCraken will miss the Tampa Bay Derby, it could be a blessing in disguise in the long run. Having a fresh and speedy horse in this day and age of the Kentucky Derby seems more important than having everything just fall into place. The most important thing about McCraken could very well be the fact he has raced three times at Churchill Downs and won them all. His most impressive Churchill win was the Kentucky Jockey Club when he earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure.
