Daily Racing Form may confirm a rumor that Bellamy Road injured a splint and will be sidelined for 30 days. Hope it's not true.
?? Bellamy hurt ??
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Bellamy Road injured
By MARTY McGEE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For Nick Zito, injury has been piled onto insult. Already struggling with the disappointment of seeing all five of his starters fare poorly Saturday in the Kentucky Derby, Zito discovered Tuesday morning that the most heralded of that quintet, Bellamy Road, has a popped splint bone that will force the colt to miss the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
Zito came upon Bellamy Road's relatively minor injury as training wound down at Churchill Downs. Starting around dawn, Bellamy Road had been lightly jogged around the shed row and cooled out fine, but several hours later, Zito noticed that something was amiss. Subsequent X-rays revealed a BB-sized bump on the inside of the left front cannon bone.
"The bad news is he popped a splint," said Zito. "The good news is the X-rays are clean otherwise. There's no fracture, so he'll be back for the big races this summer."
A popped splint, technically known as exostosis, is the result of a slight hemorrhaging around the small splint bone, which is attached to the cannon bone. If neglected, the injury can grow, calcify, and become more painful for the horse. One standard remedy, and the one Zito has chosen for Bellamy Road, is for the affected area to be freeze-fired with liquid nitrogen, so as to arrest its progression. Healing time is relatively brief, in this case about 30 days, and Zito said he is optimistic that Bellamy Road could be back in time for major races such as the Travers Stakes at Saratoga in late August.
The splint injury may help to explain why Bellamy Road finished seventh as the 5-2 favorite in the Derby, which was won by Giacomo, a 50-1 shot.
By MARTY McGEE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For Nick Zito, injury has been piled onto insult. Already struggling with the disappointment of seeing all five of his starters fare poorly Saturday in the Kentucky Derby, Zito discovered Tuesday morning that the most heralded of that quintet, Bellamy Road, has a popped splint bone that will force the colt to miss the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
Zito came upon Bellamy Road's relatively minor injury as training wound down at Churchill Downs. Starting around dawn, Bellamy Road had been lightly jogged around the shed row and cooled out fine, but several hours later, Zito noticed that something was amiss. Subsequent X-rays revealed a BB-sized bump on the inside of the left front cannon bone.
"The bad news is he popped a splint," said Zito. "The good news is the X-rays are clean otherwise. There's no fracture, so he'll be back for the big races this summer."
A popped splint, technically known as exostosis, is the result of a slight hemorrhaging around the small splint bone, which is attached to the cannon bone. If neglected, the injury can grow, calcify, and become more painful for the horse. One standard remedy, and the one Zito has chosen for Bellamy Road, is for the affected area to be freeze-fired with liquid nitrogen, so as to arrest its progression. Healing time is relatively brief, in this case about 30 days, and Zito said he is optimistic that Bellamy Road could be back in time for major races such as the Travers Stakes at Saratoga in late August.
The splint injury may help to explain why Bellamy Road finished seventh as the 5-2 favorite in the Derby, which was won by Giacomo, a 50-1 shot.
