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Trainer Tim Ritchey and veterinarian Patricia Hogan said yesterday that the Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner's leg injury is not fully healed and the popular colt won't be ready for the Breeders' Cup on Oct. 29.
"The horse is doing very well clinically and has progressed remarkably well ... We feel it is in Alex's best interests to miss the Breeders' Cup races," Ritchey and Hogan said in a joint statement on Afleet Alex's official Web site. "Unfortunately, the timing is just a little too close to demand the enormous athletic effort that would be required to race at that elite level of competition.
"Although perhaps a disappointment for racing, it is only a temporary one. The prognosis remains excellent for a return to Alex's elite level of competition."
Afleet Alex, the star of the Triple Crown series with his acrobatic Preakness win and overpowering Belmont victory, was sidelined with a fractured left-front canon bone July 21. Surgery was performed less than a week later, and a screw was inserted in the bone.
But Afleet Alex continued to work toward a comeback, with walks, jogs and gallops. In the last two weeks, Afleet Alex posted two solid workouts at Belmont Park and Ritchey was optimistic the horse could return to the races this weekend and then run in the BC Classic with Horse of the Year honors up for grabs.
"Recently, Alex was cleared for speed work and responded with two very impressive breezes," the statement said. "This was a test to see if there was a possibility of returning to racing within the scope of the Breeders' Cup races. All involved with Alex agreed that if that was to be a possibility, then the healing process was to have been completed 100 percent for this to be considered. After the recent works, Alex was radiographed again, and although it is very subtle, it is evident that bone is still in the end stages of the healing process. We are 99 percent there, but for this horse we require 100 percent."
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