An Eclipse Award finalist in the 3-Year-Old Male category for his body of work in 2022, Epicenter has made the next step in his recovery from a condylar fracture suffered during the running of this year's Breeders' Cup Classic. The 4-year-old son of Not This Time arrived at Coolmore's Ashford Stud on Jan. 13, following two months of recovery at Becky Maker's Shantera Farm near Versailles, Ky.
Epicenter entered the Classic for owner Winchell Thoroughbreds and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen after winning the Grade 1 Travers and the G2 Jim Dandy before that. He was the runner-up in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and also won the G2 Louisiana Derby and G2 Risen Star last spring.
Jockey Joel Rosario pulled up Epicenter on the backstretch during the Nov. 5 Classic, and the colt was vanned off wearing a splint to stabilize the leg. The trailer received a police escort to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, where Epicenter was diagnosed with a lateral condylar fracture to his right front leg.
A condylar fracture refers to a vertical fracture toward the lower (distal) end of the cannon bone. Depending on the complexity of the fracture and whether or not the skin has been broken, these types of injuries can frequently be surgically repaired with one or more screws and/or plates.
Dr. Larry Bramlage performed successful surgery on Nov. 6, inserting two screws to stabilize the fracture.
Asmussen released the following statement on the afternoon of Nov. 6: “Ron Winchell, David Fiske, and myself want to expressly thank Joel Rosario for getting him pulled up, the on-site veterinarians, Dr. Nick Smith, who treated Epicenter on the track, and Dr. Stuart Brown, who coordinated Epicenter's transportation from the racetrack, with a police escort, directly to Rood and Riddle, Keeneland, and my assistants Scott Blasi and Sarah Campion who stayed with Epicenter.”
According to bloodhorse.com, the screws broke about a month later and Epicenter had to undergo a second surgery.
“Dr. Bramlage said, 'I've gone 500 of these and never had a broken screw,'” Winchell racing manager David Fiske told bloodhorse.com. “It was right around the first of December; he had just started walking and I guess something shifted, and those screws just broke.
“After his second surgery, it had been on the calendar for him to be re-assessed and X-rayed again, and if everything was going good, for him to head over to Ashford. He got the green light from Dr. Bramlage earlier in the week. He'd already been walking twice a day and he can walk at Ashford just as well as he can walk at Becky's. He was starting to get to be a little bit of a handful.”
Epicenter arrived at Ashford on Friday and entered the stall next to Triple Crown champion Justify. Fiske provided several updates on social media throughout the process:
The post Epicenter Arrives At Coolmore After Recovering From Condylar Fracture, Two Surgeries appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
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