Punctured leg for Showing Up

Showing Up came out of his victory in Saturday's Lexington Stakes with a puncture wound in his right foreleg, trainer Barclay Tagg said Monday morning. However, Tagg said if he can get the injury healed in time, Showing Up would run in the Kentucky Derby on May 6.

"Those things are dangerous; it doesn't look like much, it's a tiny little hole, but you can put the head of a squirt tube down there and put antibiotics in there and flush it out the best you can," Tagg said Monday at Belmont Park where Showing Up had returned following a 13 1-2-hour van ride. "I've had them go both ways. I've had them heal up overnight, and I've had them get really bad and you damn near lose the horse. It's certainly a concern."

Tagg, who won the 2003 Derby with Funny Cide, said he would need five days to make a definite decision regarding the Derby for Showing Up, but he has made arrangements to fly the horse to Louisville on May 4.

"If I can keep him here and exercise him and get his leg fixed up and he's bucking and squealing and eating good, I'll put him on that Thursday plane and take him there and run him," Tagg said.

Showing Up improved his record to 3 for 3 with his win in the Lexington. If he starts in the Derby, he would give owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson the unprecedented feat of starting two undefeated horses in one Kentucky Derby. The Jacksons, who race under the name Lael Stable, also own Barbaro, trained by Michael Matz.