by Jeff Lowe
Whitney Handicap (G1) winner Bullsbay will miss the Goodwood Stakes (G1) on October 10 at Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park meeting because of a hoof injury.
Trainer H. Graham Motion said the Tiznow horse developed an abscess after he stepped on a sharp object about a week ago at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Maryland.
The Goodwood was scheduled to be Bullsbay’s final prep for either the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) or Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) on November 7 at Oak Tree. If the abscess heals quickly enough, he might be able to train up to one of those races, Motion said.
“He has an abscess where the object went into his hoof, and he’s on antibiotics for it,” Motion said on Thursday. “We did an MRI to make sure it didn’t do any damage to the foot itself, and there wasn’t, there’s just an abscess that needs to clear up. If it does, he could be back in training as soon as next week. But he’s not going to make the [Goodwood].”
Motion has had a tough week. Better Talk Now, the 2004 John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) winner and earner of $4,356,664, was retired on Tuesday after eight seasons in the stable. The ten-year-old gelding injured his left hind suspensory ligament while training for the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Bullsbay scored an upset win by 1 1/2 lengths in the Whitney at Saratoga Race Course over Grade 1 winners Macho Again and Commentator. He followed with a third-place finish in the Woodward Stakes (G1) on September 6 at Saratoga, finishing 1 1/2 lengths behind Rachel Alexandra and Macho Again.
Mitchell Ranch, Frank Lewkowitz, and Joe Rice own Bullsbay, who won the Alysheba Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs and Harrison E. Johnson Memorial Handicap at Laurel Park earlier this year.
Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Mine That Bird is expected for the Goodwood, along with 2007 winner and ’08 runner-up Tiago and Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) winner Richard’s Kid.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer