Violence Knocked Off the Kentucky Derby Trail with Fractured Sesamoid
Bloodhorse.com reports that the very promising three-year-old colt, Violence, is off the Kentucky Derby trail after fracturing his right front medial sesamoid bone.
Violence entered the year as one of the favorites to win the Kentucky Derby and as a top contender for the Triple Crown.
He suffered the first loss of his career Saturday at the Grade 2 Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth Stakes, finishing a game second to Orb after chasing sensible fractions.
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After closing the gap to pacesetter Majestic Hussar at the three-quarter pole with a freakish 1:08.85 fractional, Violence led the field as they turned for home, but Orb was hitting his best stride, just passing Majestic Hussar and positioning himself just 1.5 lengths behind Violence.
Once they hit the final furlong, Orb had just passed Violence and looked like he would draw clear and win the race. But Violence reacted and gamely came back to fight for the lead with Orb reacting himself and edging him by a neck at the wire.
Bloodhorse.com also reported that Violence was "resting comfortably at Gulfstream Park" and that "the colt will ship this week to owner Steven Marshallโs Black Rock Stable Farm near Versailles, Ky. for further evaluation and recuperation."
History tells us that sesamoid fracture in thoroughbreds can be a career-ending injury in some cases, whereas in other cases, it might not affect the horse's performance in the least.
It is an unfortunate event for Violence to have suffered this injury with all the upside he had, an injury that now could put his career in jeopardy.
Violence, a colt by Medaglia d'Oro out of the Gone West mare Violent Beauty, won the first three starts of his career, including the Grade 2 Nashua at Aqueduct and the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Betfair Hollywood Park over the synthetic surface.
He now has a career record of 4-3-1-0 with earnings of $623,000, and had earned 30 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, good for third place at this moment.
