Mo Donegal probably out for rest of year with bone bruising
ELMONT, N.Y. - Mo Donegal, the Belmont Stakes winner and among the leaders of a wide-open 3-year-old male division, will likely miss the remainder of the year with bone bruising, his connections said Saturday.
A press release issued Saturday afternoon by his co-owners, Donegal Racing and Mike Repole, said Mo Donegal would be taken out of training for 60 days and be reevaluated thereafter. Trainer Todd Pletcher said Mo Donegal would not be back in time to make any major races this year, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November at Keeneland.
“When you give 60 days off you need 120 to get them ready sometimes,” Pletcher said. “We need to evaluate this first. Once we knew we needed the 60 days, everybody takes a deep breath and reevaluates everything on what we might possibly try to do next.”
Pletcher said the owners have not fully committed to a 4-year-old campaign, but that’s because “we really haven’t had that conversation.”
“But I would hope so,” Pletcher said.
Mo Donegal, a son of Uncle Mo, gave Pletcher his fourth victory in the Belmont Stakes when he beat stablemate Nest by three lengths. It was the first classic victory for Donegal Racing and Repole, a native New Yorker whose objective in the sport was to win the Belmont Stakes. Repole bought part-interest in the horse following Mo Donegal’s victory in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in April.
Mo Donegal finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby after getting away slowly from the rail. In addition to his victories in the Belmont and Wood, Mo Donegal won the Grade 2 Remsen last fall at Aqueduct.
Mo Donegal’s injury takes a significant player out of races like the Jim Dandy and Travers this summer at Saratoga, and virtually takes him out of the running for an Eclipse Award in the division. Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, sixth in the Belmont, is targeting the Travers on Aug. 27 at Saratoga, while Preakness winner Early Voting is a candidate for either the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 23 or the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 30. The Jim Dandy is the objective for Epicenter, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness runner-up, who is expected to ship to Saratoga next week. Zandon, the Kentucky Derby third-place finisher and Blue Grass Stakes winner, is also targeting the Jim Dandy.