Cairo Prince to have ankle chip removed Friday

Cairo Prince, declared from the Kentucky Derby last Saturday by his connections due to injury, was found to have a chip in his left front ankle, but the prognosis is good for a return to racing later this year, according to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

McLaughlin said Dr. Larry Bramlage told him the chip was located in an unusual spot, which made it hard to find, and also made Cairo Prince very sore.

“Dr. Bramlage called it a vertical fracture instead of a horizontal one; a real bad spot, painful,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said that Cairo Prince would undergo surgery on Friday to have the chip removed. McLaughlin said Bramlage recommended two weeks of stall rest and three weeks of hand-walking before being re-evaluated.

“If he checks out well, he wants him under tack soon thereafter,” McLaughlin said. “We’re happy as we can be for this situation. We were worried about possible infection because he was so sore. It was just in a bad spot. We’re happy to have a nice horse back in the fall.”

Cairo Prince, owned by a group that includes Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing, was an emphatic winner of the Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park in January. He finished fourth as the even-money favorite in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 29, a result that put in doubt his status for the Kentucky Derby. After it was determined that he would get in based on the points system utilized by Churchill Downs to determined the 20-horse field, Cairo Prince had to be withdrawn from consideration due to this injury.

McLaughlin said following surgery, Cairo Prince would convalesce in Lexington, Ky., before shipping to McLaughlin’s Belmont stable once the horse is cleared to be put under tack.