Belmont Stakes: Dr. Bramlage back on call

ELMONT, N.Y. - Dr. Larry Bramlage, who sustained a head injury in a golf cart accident at Churchill Downs two days before the Kentucky Derby, will be back in his role as the American Association of Equine Practitioners on-call veterinarian for NBC during Saturday’s broadcast of the Belmont Stakes.

[BELMONT STAKES: Live updates and video from Belmont Park]

Bramlage, 61, said he was feeling better in time for the Preakness, but was not given clearance by doctors to fly. He is based in Lexington, Ky.

“I never had any mentation or fine motor problems where the fracture was in my skull,” Bramlage said Thursday at Belmont Park. “The only thing it affected was quick changes in mobility like your balance, because it affected your cerebellum. That’s almost gone away.”

Bramlage said he was treated with high levels of steroids that “takes away your own adrenaline. . . . Getting your energy back was hard.”