April 28 - Sadly, fans of top-rated thoroughbred Quality Road won't get the chance to watch him compete in this year's Kentucky Derby on Saturday as a result of a quarter crack that developed last week and worsened this week. As a result, his trainer Jimmy Jerkens scratched the colt from the great race.

Said Jerkens after the announcement, 'It's devastating. I don't know if you could ever get a horse for a race like the Derby with Quality Road's credentials leading up to it.' The trainer was forced to make the tough decision after the injury proved to painful for the colt to train this week ahead of Saturday's outing.

Scheduled for a workout yesterday (Monday, April 27) at the Belmont Park training track, the talented three-year-old Quality Road instead spent the session standing in a tub of hot water containing Epsom Salts. But to no avail, as it soon became apparent that the quarter crack would not heal in time for the Derby.

Also hit hard by the news was Quality Road's owner and breeder Ed Evans, who was anxious to see the colt strut his stuff in America's greatest flat horserace. For three consecutive mornings Evans reportedly visited the stables to see if the colt would be able to run in the Derby. Now he'll have to change his plans.

With the Kentucky Derby no longer an option, the owner and breeder could be inclined to aim Quality Road at the $1 million Preakness Stakes (Gr 1) on Saturday May 16, when hopefully the quarter crack will have healed sufficiently for him to compete in the prestigious second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown.

Said Evans, 'It's very disappointing because everybody, everywhere was rooting for him, wanted him to get there. We've got to do what's right for the horses. We're used to being told by the horse what to do. We've got several hundred horses on the farm telling us what to do. We're like the junior partner sometimes.'

Before injury put paid to Quality Road's Derby hopes, he had notched up three wins from four starts in his relatively new racing career. These included wins in the $350,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes (Gr 2) and the $1 million Florida Derby (Gr 1 ), both contested at Florida's Gulfstream Park in March this year.

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2011/12/09 12:48:57 AM