Locked off Triple Crown trail with knee injury

Locked, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity last fall, is off the Triple Crown trail due to an injury to his left knee, Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which co-owns the horse with Walmac Farm, said Friday afternoon.

“Locked frayed a tiny part of a ligament in the upper part of his left knee,” Wellman said Friday.

Wellman said Locked will not undergo any surgery and that it will just take time for the ligament to heal. Wellman is hopeful Locked could be back for a late summer or fall campaign.

“It took the better part of a week to identify the issue, but we’ll give him time to reattach and heal, which we’re optimistic will happen, but unfortunately were off the Kentucky Derby and classic trail,” Wellman said.

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Locked, a son of Gun Runner, won a maiden race in his second start and the Breeders’ Futurity in his third. Sent off the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, Locked finished third to his Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate Fierceness.

Locked was being pointed to the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 10, but was forced to miss that race due to a fever. He was entered in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on March 3, but was scratched the morning of the race after Pletcher was not satisfied with the way he galloped that morning at Palm Beach Downs.

Pletcher said Locked did train better Sunday morning but on Monday the horse was sent to Dr. John Madison in Ocala, Fla., where the horse underwent a battery of tests. Wellman said it took imaging tests known as a PET scan and a CT scan to pinpoint what he called a rare issue.

“Because we have so much faith in his talent and ability it wasn’t worth taking any risk whatsoever,” Wellman said. “We’re grateful to Todd and his team, Dr. Madison and Gary Broad [of Walmac] and all of our Eclipse partners. If he recovers and heals as we expect him to, it’s not entirely out of the question that he could be ready for the Travers or fall.”

Wellman said Locked will convalesce at Stonestreet Farm in Ocala.

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