Kentucky Derby 2025: First Resort has stress fracture, will miss Triple Crown

First Resort, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs in November, is off the Triple Crown trail due to a stress fracture in his left hind hock, trainer Eoin Harty said Tuesday.

No surgery will be required but First Resort will be out of training for 60 days, with the potential of him returning for a late summer/fall campaign.

“He should be back as long as the X-rays are clean,” Harty said. “Just unfortunate timing.”

First Resort, a Godolphin homebred son of Uncle Mo, won 2 of 4 starts at age 2. He won a maiden on debut at Ellis Park in July before finishing second in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special in August. Following a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Summer Stakes on turf at Woodbine in September, First Resort won the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill on Nov. 30.

First Resort was entered in last Saturday’s John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park but was scratched when Harty noticed that First Resort was off in his hind leg after he returned to the track following a Feb. 17 workout.

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Meanwhile, Poster, the Grade 2 Remsen winner, worked five furlongs in 1:02.40 Monday at Turfway. Harty said a decision on where the horse will make his next start has not yet been made. Poster finished third, beaten 2 3/4 lengths by John Hancock, in the Sam. F. Davis Stakes on Feb. 8.

“He gained a lot of weight since his race at Tampa,” Harty said. “We just need to figure out where we’re going from here.”

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