Biancone says he's cancer-free

With Fountain of Youth winner Ete Indien scheduled to run in the Florida Derby on Saturday and Tampa Bay Derby runner-up Sole Volante being pointed to the Arkansas Derby, trainer Patrick Biancone has had a great year so far, but no victory will top a personal milestone he achieved earlier this week, when he was pronounced cancer-free after having his left kidney removed a few weeks ago.

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Biancone said he didn’t want to say anything publicly until he got a clean bill of health. He received the good news from his doctor during a follow-up visit on Tuesday.

“We got rid of it,” Biancone said. “No more cancer.”

Biancone said he first started feeling slightly ill last year around the time of the Breeders’ Cup. After a subsequent routine check-up detected a potential issue with his kidney, a biopsy revealed the cancer. Fortunately, it had not spread, so removal of the kidney was paramount.

“Luckily we caught it early,” he said.

“Having your health and doing the right things because of this virus,” Biancone said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic, “is so much more important than anything.”

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Sole Volante was originally scheduled to have his final Derby prep in the Wood Memorial on April 4 at Aqueduct, which has shut down for now. Biancone said the postponement of the Arkansas Derby by three weeks to May 2 did not tempt him to run Sole Volante this week, too, along with Ete Indian. He now has plenty of time to get Sole Volante ready for a postponed Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.

“We don’t have to rush anything now,” he said.