Quality Road's Derby Withdrawal: What Did Others Do?

by Fran Jurga | 27 April 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

For better or worse, quarter cracks have altered the course of horse racing history. Fortunes have been won and lost because of them. Many top breeding stallions have been plagued by them, and their progeny repeat their sires' painful steps. 

This quarter crack on a horse about to undergo treatment at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine is atypical in that it affects the lateral ("outside") hoof wall of a horse instead of the medial ("inside") wall. Trace the crack to the coronet and you will see that it follows a line of general stress that is not exactly parallel with the hoof angle. 

While most people focus on the larger part of the crack, toward the ground surface as it widens, the area of focus for judging the success of any  treatment will be the barely visible origin of the crack at the hairline. 

Florida Derby winner Quality Road sported a new patch on his new quarter crack when he galloped on Sunday, and plans called for a serious work today (Monday) at his home track of Belmont Park in New York before shipping to Louisville for Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

He stayed in his stall this morning: not a good sign.

Quarter crack specialist Ian McKinlay called on Sunday to say that he was disappointed that the crack's location, right at the hairline, meant that when he inserted the drain and tightened the sutures before applying the patch, there was a tiny drop of blood at the hairline.

“This is live tissue – we’re not changing a flat tire, so there are a lot of judgment calls," McKinlay told The Hoof Blog by phone. “Everything had been stabilized and when I changed the wires today, the crack opened up. There was a bit of sensitive tissue aggravated during the process. Hopefully, there won’t be a tinge of blood tomorrow (Monday) when he breezes.”

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens said Sunday that he was planning to treat the hoof with “Thrush Buster” as a drying agent and also with Animalintex poultice. “He’s got 24 hours to get better,” said Jerkens on Sunday. “I would have liked to have seen no blood, but it didn’t surprise me because he was still tender. He’s sound, he galloped the way he usually does, but I would have been more optimistic without blood.”

When Monday rolled around, the stall door did not open wide. No big colt came striding out.

Before you write this colt off, read your history. Today's leading sire A. P. Indy sat out both the 1992 Kentucky Derby and Preakness while recovering from a quarter crack, which popped the day before the Derby, and came back to win the much longer Belmont Stakes and Breeders Cup before entering stud.

And who could forget another leading sire, Unbridled's Song, whose owner (the now infamous Ernie Paragallo, currently accused of neglecting almost 200 horses on his farm in upstate New York), sent his colt to the post in the 1996 Kentucky Derby in spite of a quarter crack and bar shoe, only to have him finish fifth. Unbridled's Song missed the Preakness and the Belmont.

And don't forget one of the most underrated racehorses in American history: the great three-year-old campaign of Buckpasser, who won 14 stakes races with a gaping quarter crack that was often unpatched.

The crack did keep him out of the Triple Crown, but he came back to win the Travers...and everything else. I think he won something like 14 stakes races in quick succession, within a year, in spite of his re-cracking hoof. His jockey, Braulio Baeza, said he ran on his heart, not his hooves.

Buckpasser's three-year-old quarter crack was infected; the Phipps Stable brought in Standardbred quarter crack expert Joe Grasso to patch him and the crack recurred when he was four.

Buckpasser is one of the most interesting horses, hoof-wise, in recent American history. The Phipps Stables is said to have tested experimental European raceplates on him. He retired with a record of 31-25-4-1. That's right: he started 31 times in three years, almost all of which were stakes races.

In 1964, Northern Dancer (who looms in Quality Road's pedigree) won the Flamingo and Florida Derby prep races, as well as the Derby, while recovering from a quarter crack, but the crack would have been quite grown out by the Derby. Northern Dancer wore the vulcanized patch by Bill Bane at Santa Anita.

Just to muddy this whole situation, a horse can have a quarter crack, a Quarter Crack, or a QUARTER CRACK. It sounds like Quality Road has a quarter crack, but it is in a very sensitive spot, and his decisionmakers aren't taking any chances.

That translates to one less reason to hold your breath for two minutes on Saturday.

And that's ok.

Read The Hoof Blog's 2008 article on the history of quarter crack patches and horses who benefited from them.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Quarter Crack! Quality Road Meets Ian McKinlay for Hoof Repair Session 25 Days Before Kentucky Derby

by Fran Jurga | 6 April 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

This is an example of a quarter crack lacing technique, using stainless steel sutures laced through tiny and shallow guide holes drilled with a very fine drill bit. The idea is not to shut the crack but to hold it open and stabilize it so that any infection or "heat" can dissipate before a patch is applied. Quarter cracks have varying degrees of infection and may or may not be associated with an abscess somewhere else under the hoof wall. The new complete hoof wall grows down from the hairline, much as you grow a new fingernail from the cuticle. (Ian McKinlay photo)

One week you're a hero: On March 28, a New York-based colt named Quality Road wowed the racing world with a powerhouse victory over Todd Pletcher's highly-regarded contender Dunkirk in the 2009 Florida Derby at Gulfstream. 

Kentucky Derby, here they come! 

Ten days later, you're looking for a hero. And Quality Road has found one: Ian McKinlay's black Suburban has been parked in front of the big colt's stall at New York's Belmont Park for all to see. The noted hoof repair specialist--neither veterinarian nor farrier but a critical consultant to top racehorse trainers--got the call from trainer Jimmy Jerkens to work on a crack in the inside quarter of the colt's right hind hoof. 

McKinlay said this afternoon that the crack popped during the Florida Derby and was patched before the horse shipped back to New York, but that inflammation under the Florida patch had Jerkens looking for some help. McKinlay said he pulled off the old patch, cleaned up the crack, laced it with stainless steel sutures and applied a drying agent. He left the crack "wide open" so it would dry and said that the horse galloped today and was sound, but they were waiting for it to dry up. 

"We should be able to patch it, possibly by the end of the week. The whole thing should be over by this weekend and he'll be on his way...or else my reputation will be shot!" McKinlay said, half joking.

Jerkens is a popular New York trainer who would carry a lot of sentimental support with him when and if his horse makes the scheduled April 28th departure date for Kentucky. McKinlay said that the cracked hoof had been shod with a bar shoe to stabilize it but that Quality Road will be back in a regular shoe once the patch is applied later this week. He repeated several times that he did not think that this crack would affect the horse's trip to Kentucky or his chances in the Derby, barring unforeseen complications. 

"This is no Big Brown type of situation," he said more than once. 

Last year's Triple Crown news was headlined by McKinlay's work to help Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown through wall separations on both front feet and then a pre-Belmont quarter crack that may or may not have been too much for the champion. Something was, as he failed to run his race in the Belmont Stakes and did not win the Triple Crown in spite of patches on patches and designer glue-on Yasha shoes that have been successful for other horses and had helped him win the first two legs of the Triple Crown. 

Quality Road is a very big colt; he is a Virginia-bred son of Elusive Quality and is owned by Edward P. Evans. He set a new 1 1/8-mile course record in 1:47.72 at Gulfstream with his Florida Derby win. 

Pletcher complained after the race that the track was too fast and that he wouldn't have run his horse if he had known how lightning fast the track would be. 

Quality Road may have paid the price for an exciting race and a new track record. 

Let's hope Ian McKinlay is right and this is a minor setback for a horse that--if he's sound--can help make this year's Triple Crown series exciting. 

Click here for stories and video of Ian McKinlay's technique for quarter crack repair. 

Click here for an overview of quarter crack repair. 

Click here for an article about Big Brown's pre-Belmont 2008 quarter crack. 

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© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). 

Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to hoofblog@gmail.com.

Hoofcare at Saratoga: Calendar of Tuesday Events Beginning July 29th

Saratoga Springs, New York -- Beginning July 29 Please attend any or all of these casual, summer-style educational events. All events are on Tuesdays. Admission is free. Tuesday, July 29 (evening) RIDE ON Exhibit Preview at National Museum of Racing with speakers Donald Walsh DVM (laminitis) and Allie Hayes (anatomical aftermath of hoof and leg injury), who are featured in this new museum exhibit on horse health, lameness, and laminitis. Comments by trainer Michael Dickinson and farrier Michael Wildenstein; meet exhibit curator Beth Shaffer. The Parting Glass Pub will still be open for dinner after this event. Tuesday August 5 (evening) RACETRACK Shoeing at the Parting Glass with Grayson Jockey Club Welfare and Safety Summit Shoeing Committee to share new research, view new high-tech videos of different shoes on different surfaces, and discuss toe grab and shoeing rules. "Mad Genius" trainer Michael Dickinson, developer of Tapeta surfaces, will also speak. Tuesday August 12 at the National Museum of Racing (afteroon) sponsored by LIFE DATA LABS and at the Parting Glass (evening). Racing surfaces and hoof cracks, wall separations, with racetrack surface researcher Dr Mick Peterson, Thoroughbred hoof repair specialist Ian McKinlay, and Swedish Standardbred shoeing specialist Conny Svensson. Tuesday August 19 (evening) at the Parting Glass; program led by Michael Wildenstein FWCF (Hons), Cornell University, plus special guests to end the series. The Parting Glass is located at 40 Lake Avenue (one block off Broadway) in Saratoga Springs. Dinner is available at the Parting Glass at a reasonable cost. The National Museum of Racing is on Union Avenue, opposite the main entrance to the track. Out of town? Call the Comfort Inn and ask for the "Hoofcare" special rate: (518) 587-6244. The nearest airport is Albany, New York. For more information: please don't call the Museum or the Parting Glass!  Visit http://www.hoofcare.blogspot.com for updates and announcements. Speakers and programs subject to cancellation or change without notice. Presented with the help of CCE Equine and Equilite, Maker of Sore No More Liniment. Special thanks to Freida Garrison and Jim Santore and the Parting Glass Pub. Sponsorship opportunities available for some events, please inquire.

Big Brown Turns Beige, Never Fires in Belmont Stakes; No Triple Crown Winner for 2008

No Triple Crown This Year: Big Brown was eased to finish last after a bumpy, unhappy trip for the first mile or so of the Belmont Stakes. That's assistant trainer Michelle Nevin, his regular rider, who ran out on the track to take charge of the horse. Photo credited to TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images. 

Oh boy. They turned for home in the 2008 Belmont Stakes and there was he was: Big Brown, patched hooves flashing in the summer sun, rolling along on the outside, ready to make his move, just like he always does. Make his move. Make his move. Make his...

Jockey Kent Desormeaux stood up in the irons and pulled back and up. The race was over for his horse. They both knew it, apparently. He pulled up and cantered home last.

In an interview later he is quoted as saying (referring to the patched hooves), “There were no popped tires. He was just out of gas."

Did I miss it or were there no on-air post-race interviews with the IEAH power brokers who own Big Brown? Did they not congratulate the winners? I understand that it is the trainer's responsibility to be with the horse and make decisions about his health and care back at the barn.

Winning trainer Nick Zito, one of New York's most popular and successful trainers, won the race with a long shot who ran an incredible race and just kept going. He deserved to be congratulated.

Also to be congratulated: the Japanese connections of pre-race second favorite, the lightly raced Casino Drive, who is laid up with some sort of bruise on his foot. They chose not to poke holes in their horse's sole to drain the problem area. It probably could have been soaked, poked, and drawn out and then patched or glued. But kudos to them: they didn't take a chance with their horse.

Dutrow took all the chances. His horse has a patch on a patch on one foot, the remnants of a reconstructed heel made out of adhesive material on the other. His horse missed his monthly Winstrol (steroid) injection in the face of criticism over the medication, even though it is legal (whether right or wrong, it is legal). He was running without the turndowns that he sported on his hind feet in the Kentucky Derby (note that the jockey complained that the horse wasn't handling the track well) and he was coming back from rundown injuries on his hind pasterns and heel bulbs suffered in the Preakness.

And it was 93 degrees and humid. And his third race in five weeks.

Big Brown's trainer took all the chances. The jockey chose not to take a chance, not to whip and drive the horse to a middle of the pack finish over the line with possible dire consequences in the final furlong in front of the grandstand. He did not know what was wrong with his horse. He just knew he was out of horse.

Meanwhile, a horse we never heard of ran a great race for a great trainer at their home track in their home town.

Pop the champagne anyway. We've just come off three months of high-profile reporting about horses' hooves, injured hooves, and the people who are trying to help horses get sound and stay sound. Hoof repair specialist Ian McKinlay is still the man of the hour and has made a lot of friends in the media that will benefit the rest of the hoof world.

One more quote, again from the jockey, referring to Thoroughbreds of the past: “I cannot fathom what kind of freaks the Triple Crown champions were.”

So pop the champagne, and I'll do the same. Maybe stay home tonight and watch some archival video footage of Affirmed, Seattle Slew, Secretariat, Citation, Assault, Count Fleet, War Admiral, Gallant Fox, Omaha, Whirlaway and Sir Barton. Enjoy the freak show, it's as close as you're going to get, for now.

Big Brown: The Most Famous Feet in Derby History!

Big Brown's left front foot has a raceplate glued on with a PMMA epoxy type adhesive that is custom selected. The specs used are Lord 403 with a #19 accelerator. You can see a copper "clip" embedded in the glue; it is riveted to the shoe and is used only as a receptor for additional glue. The horse had wall separations on both front feet that required repair.

Racing fans, rejoice! I have finally obtained actual close-up photos of the feet of Kentucky Derby favorite Big Brown. The following photos were taken on or about April 11, 2008, when the horse's feet were re-glued and re-shod by farrier Tom Curl of Florida, who has been working on the colt since he shipped south for the winter. 

There has been some confusion and misinformation in the press so to clarify: the colt was originally worked on by Ian McKinlay in New York, and the horse benefited from his new Yasha shoe technology and heel resection technique. Ian has been supplying photos and videos of the technique and system. 

But the horse subsequently was worked on by Tom Curl, an associate of Ian's. Tom did the work on the second foot. What you see is a collaborative effort of two experts using a new technology that has been helping a lot of horses over the past few months.

 

This is the bottom of the foot, showing the placement of the clips. The shoe has a rubber-like gasket rim pad on the inside that is half the web of the shoe. Adhesive is under the other half of the web. This is a unique modification of the "direct glue" technique used by farriers.

This foot shows the repair situation on the inside heel of the first foot, which was done by McKinlay in New York. You can see that the new heel wall is growing down.

Here's the foot worked on in Florida by Curl, showing the heel repair on the right side of the photo. The glue on the left side is just for reinforcing the shoe.

Here are both of Big Brown's feet as he looked on April 11.

Now for an update: Tom Curl told me today that he checked Big Brown's feet the day he left Florida and headed to Churchill Downs. He watched the horse gallop with trainer Rick Dutrow. 

Tom said that he used more glue than McKinlay because he knows the Derby will fall three weeks after the horse was done, and the glue can be stressed over time, so he was pro-active.