My Boy Jack to miss rest of year with ankle chip

DEL MAR, Calif. – My Boy Jack, a three-time stakes winner who was fifth in the Kentucky Derby in May, has been diagnosed with a bone chip in an ankle that will require surgery.

My Boy Jack will miss the remainder of the year. Kirk Godby of Don’t Tell My Wife Stables, which co-owns the colt with Monomoy Stables, said My Boy Jack is expected to return to racing as a 4-year-old in 2019. The injury was detected after My Boy Jack finished eighth of nine in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby on July 7.

“The vet said it was interfering with his performance and said it was very minor,” Godby said. “The vet said he’ll clean up well and come back 100 percent.”

Trained by Keith Desormeaux, My Boy Jack has won 3 of 12 starts and earned $729,145. By Creative Cause, My Boy Jack won the Zuma Beach Stakes for 2-year-olds on turf last October in his fourth start and two Grade 3 races this year – the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park in February and the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland in April.

In the Kentucky Derby on May 5, My Boy Jack closed from 19th in a field of 20 to finish seven lengths behind Justify. My Boy Jack raced in traffic with three-eighths of a mile remaining and rallied wide.

“He had trouble on the turn and had to kick out and reengage,” Godby said. “He’s such a great horse. He’s going to be fine. Giving him three months off will do well for him anyway.

“We look forward to bringing him back in 2019.”