NEWS
Afleet Alex gallops for the second straight day
Posted: Saturday, September 17, 2005
Dual classic winner Afleet Alex was back on the track on Saturday, one day after his first gallop since suffering a hairline condylar fracture of the cannon bone in his left foreleg on July 27 at Belmont Park.
Trainer Tim Ritchey brought Afleet Alex to the Belmont main track on Saturday morning for a 1 1/2-mile jog and the duo returned later in the day for another mile jog and a 1 1/2-mile gallop.
The Belmont (G1) and Preakness (G1) Stakes winner was cleared by Dr. Larry Bramlage to resume strenuous exercise on Thursday. He galloped 1 1/2 miles on Friday at Belmont and came out of that exercise extraordinarily well.
"He's healed faster than most horses would have, a lot of horses would have been out for five months with an injury like that," Ritchey said. "It's been a very rapid healing process. He's been jogging for two weeks now. When we got the green light to start galloping him again it was a great thing."
Ritchey said Afleet Alex has been a very calm throughout the healing process and the mild-mannered colt was an ideal patient despite a lack of activity early on in the recovery.
"He's a very laid back and very easy going horse and he took it better than most horses would have," Ritchey said of the extended stall time during the healing process.
Ritchey said his first priority is Afleet Alex's health and well-being and then focusing guiding him back to championship form.
Provided Afleet Alex continues to progress, Ritchey would like to find a prep race for the three-year-old son of Northern Afleet before sending him out against top competition.
"If I can do that it would be the ideal way, but I'll know more after a week of gallops and after I get a breeze into him," said Ritchey, who would like to see Afleet Alex contest the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on October 29 at Belmont. "Hopefully, it can be the Breeders' Cup, but if it's not we'll find another race for him after the Breeders' Cup. There are plenty of races out there. My job is to get him back to winning form."
Owned by Cash is King Stable, Afleet Alex has won eight of 12 starts and has earned $2,765,800.—Mike Curry
