THURSDAY JUNE 16 2011
Animal Kingdom injured.
ELMONT, N.Y. -- Animal Kingdom, the Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up, sustained an injury to his left hind leg that will keep him out of training for a couple of weeks, but should not prevent him from running again this year, his connections announced Thursday.
Animal Kingdom has what veterinarians describe as a fissure, or small crack, on the tip of the cannon bone where it joins the lower part of the hock. It is believed that the injury occurred when Animal Kingdom stumbled in the early stages of the Belmont Stakes when a horse came over on him and then Animal Kingdom clipped heels with another horse in front of him.
The recommended plan of action, according to Dr. Larry Bramlage of the Rood and Riddle Equine Clinic in Lexington, Ky., is that Animal Kingdom be taken out of training for two weeks before having the leg X-rayed again.
"In two weeks it should settle down and he should be sound again," Bramlage said in a press release distributed by Team Valor International, the syndicate which owns Animal Kingdom. "I don't think it is going to separate, but that would be the worry. Right now it is a tiny crack and technically you could call it a fracture. But I would characterize it as more of a fissure because of how small it is."
Bramlage examined the X-rays that were taken by Dr. Dean Richardson at the New Bolton Equine Clinic in Kennett Square, Pa., where Animal Kingdom was sent on Wednesday for a bone scan after trainer Graham Motion noticed that horse was off in his left hind leg.
Animal Kingdom injured.
ELMONT, N.Y. -- Animal Kingdom, the Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up, sustained an injury to his left hind leg that will keep him out of training for a couple of weeks, but should not prevent him from running again this year, his connections announced Thursday.
Animal Kingdom has what veterinarians describe as a fissure, or small crack, on the tip of the cannon bone where it joins the lower part of the hock. It is believed that the injury occurred when Animal Kingdom stumbled in the early stages of the Belmont Stakes when a horse came over on him and then Animal Kingdom clipped heels with another horse in front of him.
The recommended plan of action, according to Dr. Larry Bramlage of the Rood and Riddle Equine Clinic in Lexington, Ky., is that Animal Kingdom be taken out of training for two weeks before having the leg X-rayed again.
"In two weeks it should settle down and he should be sound again," Bramlage said in a press release distributed by Team Valor International, the syndicate which owns Animal Kingdom. "I don't think it is going to separate, but that would be the worry. Right now it is a tiny crack and technically you could call it a fracture. But I would characterize it as more of a fissure because of how small it is."
Bramlage examined the X-rays that were taken by Dr. Dean Richardson at the New Bolton Equine Clinic in Kennett Square, Pa., where Animal Kingdom was sent on Wednesday for a bone scan after trainer Graham Motion noticed that horse was off in his left hind leg.
