Dr. Larry Bramlage

Rich Strike (Keen Ice), who upset the GI Kentucky Derby at 80-1 in 2022, is set to join trainer Bill Mott, according to owner Rick Dawson. Rich Strike was last seen finishing fifth for his former trainer Eric Reed in the 2023 running of the GII Alysheba S. at Churchill Downs. "Richie visited Rood & Riddle this morning for his final ultrasound test," Dawson said in a Facebook post on Thursday. "All went as good as could be expected & better than expectations on several issues - our plan is...

Owner Rick Dawson has changed his mind a few times regarding the career of his GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice). One day he's coming back to the races, another day he's to be sold as a stallion prospect, the next day it's back to trying to get him back to the races. It's not that Dawson is indecisive, it's more a matter of him reacting to what is a constantly changing situation. "A few weeks before the sale we had made plans to ship him to Gulfstream...

Last month, California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) chairman Greg Ferraro scratched a persistent industry itch. While discussing his thoughts on the rollout of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug control program, Ferraro shared his fears that the new federal rules on joint injections were weaker than had previously existed in California. "It's a step backwards," Ferraro said. And this regulatory reshuffle, he added, could lead to an increase in California of irreparable musculoskeletal injuries, especially of the fetlock joint. "California is the point of the spear in terms...

West Point Thoroughbreds President and Chief Executive Terry Finley has been elected to the board of stewards of The Jockey Club, it was announced Monday. He fills the expired position of Vinnie Viola. Ian D. Highet, a steward of The Jockey Club, was reelected to the board. Finley, who has been a member of The Jockey Club since 2019, at the helm of West Point campaigned either solely or in partnership Horse of the Year Flightline (Tapit), GI Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister), and a number of other Grade...

Noted equine surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage will be presented with the Dinny Phipps Award, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation said in a release Wednesday. Created in 2017, the award will be presented at a dinner hosted by the chairman of The Jockey Club, Stuart S. Janney III, in Saratoga Springs, New York, the week of the Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing, which is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 3. "This is especially meaningful for me based on who it is named after," Dr. Bramlage said. "The Phipps family...

He hasn't got all day; nor, doubtless, do you. So let's cut to the chase. We won't dwell on the journey that has made Dr. Larry Bramlage a doyen of orthopedic science, in its daily application to the racehorse: not the alphabet soup of honors and distinctions, nor the long experience that has honed the sharpest diagnostic eye in the business through 23 years with Rood and Riddle. We have simply dropped into the clinic, on a recent visit to Lexington, to direct a brief sunbeam of his knowledge and...

Trainer Steve Asmussen reported Sunday that leading 3-year-old Epicenter (Not This Time), who was pulled up on the backstretch of Saturday's GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, had two screws inserted to stabilize a fracture in his condylar joint and is expected to make a full recovery for his future stallion career. "Epicenter had a lateral condylar fracture of his right front," Asmussen said in a statement. "This morning, Dr. Larry Bramlage inserted two screws to stabilize the injury and the horse is up and resting in his stall. After surgery,...

Lexington, KY--The 2022 Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit was held Wednesday, June 22 in the Keeneland sales pavilion. The event was presented by The Jockey Club and the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. "This was the tenth edition of the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit," said Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation's President Jamie Haydon following the event. "It's really astounding to think that we couldn't measure how many horses had died on the racetrack when we started this, and now not only are we presenting risk factors nationally,...

Edited Press Release Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital is pleased to announce the installation of an equine positron emission tomography (PET) scanner at the Lexington, Kentucky, hospital. This modality is used for diagnostic imaging in select lameness cases and can be used in standing, sedated horses. It does not require general anesthesia. The scans result in quantitative, three-dimensional, cross-sectional images that can help accurately pinpoint the location and severity of a problem. Any area on the limb from the foot to the carpus (knee) and tarsus (hock) can be imaged....

J. Kirk and Judy Robison's talented sprinter/miler Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) underwent surgery last week to remove a bone chip in his left knee, Daily Racing Form reports. The procedure was performed by Dr. Larry Bramlage last Friday. "He is going to do rehab at Becky Maker's farm in Lexington," trainer Steve Asmussen told DRF. "We do plan on a 2022 campaign." A two-time Grade I winner at two, Jackie's Warrior annexed the GII Pat Day Mile S. in May and was second by a neck in the GI Woody...

Jack Christopher (Munnings), expected to go off the favorite in the GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile but scratched by the track veterinarians the day prior to the race, has had a screw inserted in his left shin due to a stress fracture, according to his ownership group's racing manager, Bradley Weisbord. The news was first reported by the Blood-Horse. "Jack Christopher saw Dr. Larry Bramlage the Wednesday following the Breeders' Cup," said Weisbord. "He had a full examination, including a bone scan. A couple of areas lit up, mainly the...

If pressed to pinpoint a single Achilles heel in the racehorse, it's probably a fair bet to assume many would zero in on the fetlock--the intricate joint mechanism that in a racehorse travelling at top speed proves especially vulnerable to system failure. Indeed, 19 of the 22 horses that suffered catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries at Santa Anita during its benighted winter-spring meet nearly two years ago had sesamoid fractures. In most cases, the prognosis for horses who suffer severe fetlock breakdowns is grim, but a procedure pioneered at the end of...