Always a Princess undergoes successful surgery for leg injury

ARCADIA, Calif. -- Always a Princess, who fractured the sesamoid bones in her left front ankle and fell at the end of the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Invitational Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, underwent successful surgery with noted surgeon Dr. Wayne McIlwraith on Sunday morning at an equine clinic in Cypress, Calif.

Jim Barnes, the top assistant to Bob Baffert, who trains Always a Princess, said he spoke with McIlwraith following the surgery and said McIlwraith was encouraged with the results, though Barnes cautioned that there are many miles to travel on this journey.

"The good thing is she laid down last night and this morning, so she took the pressure off that leg," Barnes said Sunday afternoon at Santa Anita. "You hope they do that, because you don't want them to put so much pressure on that leg that they end up foundering in the other."

Always a Princess obviously will not race again. The hope is she can recover and be a broodmare, beginning next year.