Imperial Hint fighting tender foot after Pelican Stakes loss

Trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. said Imperial Hint was “carrying heat and was tender” in his right front foot the morning after being upset as the 1-5 favorite Saturday in the $75,000 Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. Carvajal is optimistic Imperial Hint can overcome the setback in time to run in the March 30 Dubai Golden Shaheen.

Imperial Hint faded to third in the six-furlong Pelican, five lengths behind the winner, Killybegs Captain. Carvajal said he was puzzled Saturday night about the subpar performance by the 6-year-old Imperial Hint, who had won 12 of his 19 prior starts and earned nearly $1.6 million as one of the elite sprinters in North America.

“He was 100 percent going into the race, and he was even fine after the race,” Carvajal said by phone from his winter base at Tampa in Oldsmar, Fla. “But we came in [Sunday] morning and there was heat in the foot, a little bit of a pulse, back by the frog. It explains why he didn’t run his best. That was not him.”

Carvajal said Monday the foot was being tubbed with hot water and epsom salts to alleviate pressure and to help drain whatever infection may exist. The problem appears to be minor in scope and is somewhat comparable to what 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify endured after the Kentucky Derby prior to winning the Preakness two weeks later.

“Hopefully, we will take care of this and he will be back to training by the end of the week or so,” Carvajal said.

Meanwhile, Killybegs Captain led off a Saturday stakes sweep for trainer John Terranova and his longtime client Michael Devlin of Curragh Racing. About an hour later, Heavenly Score won the $50,000 Minaret for Terranova and Curragh.

Terranova watched the races from his New York base while deputizing his assistant, Rory Barron, who is overseeing his 10-horse Tampa string.

“We all thought we were running for second” to Imperial Hint in the Pelican, said Terranova. “It was a nice surprise for us, although our horse has really come along. He’d been training lights-out, so we thought we’d take a shot. You just never know sometimes.”

Heavenly Score was making her first start in more than six months. The Arkansas-bred mare has proven equally effective on dirt and turf, “so we’ve got a lot of options with her,” Terranova said.

Killybegs Captain and Heavenly Score both are gray 5-year-olds and had breezed together on several occasions in recent weeks.

“It all came together real well,” Terranova said.