Columnist Ralph Siraco: Afleet Alex down for now, but not out of racing

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Aug. 1, 2005 | 9:27 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

The most charismatic horse to come out of this year's Triple Crown has been sidelined for the summer and maybe for the rest of the year. And the marquee races that are left exclusively for sophomores have been blown wide open.

Afleet Alex, who won the second and third legs of the Crown, will not return to racing at either the upstate spa at Saratoga or the shore spa of Monmouth Park. The leading sophomore in the nation sustained a hairline condylar fracture in his left front cannon bone and will miss his planned return engagements, starting with Sunday's Haskell Invitational at Monmouth and a turnaround start in the August 27 Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

Afleet Alex was expected to be an overwhelming favorite to win both races.

His exodus from the pair of $1 million races for 3-year-olds will not only provide opportunities for many sophomores who may have passed a confrontation with Afleet Alex, but also deprives the expected large turnout of people to see the reigning champion of racing's glamour class.

His injury is said to be neither life-threatening nor career-ending. As a matter of fact, trainer Tim Richey reported that Afleet Alex may be back in time for a fall campaign. Remember, Afleet Alex gained a reputation of being an iron horse with his two-a-day visits to the race track each morning and a racing schedule that saw him compete a dozen times within a year, producing eight victories and $2.7 million in earnings.

Ritchey said the injury was discovered July 26 when the horse was cooling off after his usual morning training at Belmont Park. While watching Afleet Alex, Ritchey said he felt something just wasn't right. He said the horse wasn't walking right and ordered a full examination that revealed the hairline fracture.

Catching such an injury so early and without the fracture being displaced will lead to a more timely recovery. Condylar fractures to a horse's cannon bone can be career-ending, and, in some extreme cases could lead to a fatal breakdown.

On Wednesday, Afleet Alex underwent a 35-minute procedure in which a small screw was inserted across the cannon bone at the fracture, thus pushing the fracture line together, adding strength and hasting the healing process. The surgery, which was performed at the New Jersey Equine Clinic in Clarksburg, was declared a resounding success.

Afleet Alex returned to his Belmont Park barn on Thursday and should be back walking the shedrow in 10-12 days.

This latest injury is just another obstacle in a resilient career of overcoming adversity. After he was foaled, Afleet Alex had to be bottle-fed for the first 12 days of his life because his mother could not produce enough milk for the newborn. That rocky start was a precursor to his racing career.

Although Afleet Alex began racing at a small track like Smarty Jones, unlike last year's darling sophomore Afleet Alex encountered troubled trips in such high-profile races as the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby.

A lung infection was a point of contention leading to his worst career finish, when he trailed the field in the Grade III Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park during a crucial time for the Triple Crown run.

His heroic stumble and recovery in the Preakness Stakes will go down in sports history as one of the most miraculous victories of all time, setting the stage for his runaway victory in the Belmont Stakes.

The mad scramble is now on. Several interested parties are already calling audibles for the two spa races, while Afleet Alex goes through another chapter in a silver screen career.

"I look forward to Alex's return to the races," Ritchey said. "The book isn't over. There are still some more chapters to be written to the story."

We can only hope so.