Kentucky Derby (G1) hopeful QUALITY ROAD (Elusive Quality) returned from a 1
3/4-mile gallop on the Belmont Park training track with a tinge of blood from a
newly-patched quarter-crack, but his connections remain optimistic he will make
the May 2 “Run for the Roses.”
A five-furlong breeze Monday morning will be the determining factor on
whether the colt makes the trip to Churchill Downs.
“He has to work to our liking and come out of it perfectly,” said Jimmy
Jerkens, who trains Quality Road for owner/breeder Edward P. Evans. “If he takes
one bad step anywhere, forget it.”
At about 7 a.m. (EDT) Sunday, hoof specialist Ian McKinlay replaced a set of
wires, inserted a drain, and then put an acrylic patch on the quarter-crack on
the inside of the colt’s right-front hoof.
“He’s well on the mend,” said McKinlay, who successfully treated a quarter-crack on the colt’s right-hind foot that he developed during his track record
performance in the Florida Derby (G1) on March 28.
“This is live tissue — we’re not changing a flat tire, so there are a lot of
judgment calls,” McKinlay said. “Everything had been stabilized and when I
changed the wires today, the crack opened up. There was a bit of sensitive
tissue aggravated during the process. Hopefully, there won’t be a tinge of blood
tomorrow when he breezes.”
Jerkens said the hoof will be treated Sunday with a drying agent called
“Thrush Buster” and also with Animalintex poultice.
“He’s got 24 hours to get better,” Jerkens said. “I would have liked to have
seen no blood, but it didn’t surprise me because he was still tender. He’s
sound, he galloped the way he usually does, but I would have been more
optimistic without blood.”