Mitole's season on hold; Midnight Bisou on track for Houston
NEW ORLEANS – The exciting 4-year-old sprinter Mitole’s comeback is on temporary hold while he gets over what his connections hope and believe is only a minor setback.
Mitole hasn’t started since he rocketed to a 6 1/4-length win in the Chick Lang Stakes about eight months ago and came out of that race with a broken splint bone that required rest to heal. Mitole returned to the work tab Nov. 28 at Fair Grounds and was on a steady breeze schedule for trainer Steve Asmussen through Dec. 24, but hasn’t worked since.
“We had a little foot issue with him that I think should clear up,” Asmussen said. “Because of who he is and how fast he is, he has to be 100 percent before you let him go. He only has one gear – and it’s really fast.”
Things are moving more smoothly for 4-year-old filly Midnight Bisou, who worked six furlongs here Friday in 1:13 preparing for the Jan. 27 Houston Ladies Classic. Asmussen also has 4-year-old filly She’s a Julie, winner of the Iowa Oaks, back working steadily at Fair Grounds. She breezed five furlongs in 1:02 on Sunday prepping for her 2019 debut in a race yet to be determined.
Hotshot Anna out 2-3 months
Hotshot Anna, the best synthetic-surface sprinter in North America last year, was scratched from the Pan Zareta Stakes here Jan. 5 after fracturing her withers a few days before the race, trainer Hugh Robertson said.
Hotshot Anna flipped over and fell to her back on the concrete outside Robertson’s barn on a windy morning after startling when an object blew over just in front of her.
“If she’d have fallen on her head it would’ve killed her,” Robertson said.
The withers are the highest part of a horse’s back, situated at the base of the neck above the shoulder. Hotshot Anna remains in Robertson’s barn and is comfortable. The injury requires two or three months’ rest to heal, Robertson said.
