By Christina Bossinakis
Baltimore, MD–Just Steel (Justify), who finished fifth behind stablemate Seize the Grey (Arrogate) in Saturday's GI Preakness S., exited the race with a condylar fracture of the right front leg, and will require further evaluation before a full diagnosis can be given, according to D. Wayne Lukas Sunday morning.
“That will fall to Dr. Larry Bramlage down in Lexington,” said Lukas when asked of the colt's status. “He has seen it already, and at first blush, his reaction is that it will be ok. Obviously, it's nothing life threatening. But how far he goes as a racehorse will need to be determined.”
Reflecting back on Saturday's race, Lukas explained, “I thought for a moment, at the top of the stretch, we might run 1-2. He really caught my eye. I don't really know where [the injury] happened. He started checking and gearing down so I knew something wasn't right.”
According to Lukas, the colt will be dropped off at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington on the way back to Lukas's Churchill Downs base.
“He looked fine initially. He got tender like they do. But boy, he was tough to keep in the stall this morning. He's not very stressed about it at all.”
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