Exaggerator loses shoe during gallop

ELMONT, N.Y. – Exaggerator lost his left hind shoe while galloping on the Belmont Park main track Monday morning, but he was due to be shod before the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, and it just so happened that his blacksmith was due to arrive on Monday, so new plates were to be affixed prior to his scheduled workout Tuesday.

The unshod foot was noticeable while the colt was being bathed back at the barn Monday. It appeared that the shoe had come off cleanly, as there were no nails dangling, and there did not appear to be any significant damage to the sole or the hoof wall. Exaggerator was walking soundly.

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Keith Desormeaux, the trainer of Exaggerator, said his blacksmith, Judd Fisher, was scheduled to arrive here on Monday anyway.

“We were pushing it going this long,” said Desormeaux, who said Exaggerator had last been shod prior to his second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. He subsequently won the Preakness and is expected to be favored in the Belmont on Saturday.

Fisher, based in California, received national attention two years ago for shoeing California Chrome with glue-on shoes that he affixed with nails before his Triple Crown races. California Chrome won the Derby and Preakness before losing the Belmont.