Recovered from a broken bone in his nose, Imprimis targets Troy Stakes – again

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The last time Imprimis was seen in Saratoga, he was disqualified from a convincing victory in the Grade 3 Troy Stakes. The last time he was seen in the afternoon at any track, Imprimis was bleeding from his nostrils after breaking his nose in the starting gate while finishing second in the Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland in April.

Trainer Joe Orseno has put both those incidents behind him and is ready to bring Imprimis back to the races in next Friday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Troy at Saratoga.

“We’re right on track for the Troy and we’re happy to be there,” Orseno said Friday from Florida where he has been preparing Imprimis for a campaign he hopes ends in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in November.

Orseno was anything but happy in April at Keeneland when Imprimis came back from his narrow loss to Bound for Nowhere with blood pouring out of both nostrils. Orseno’s first reaction was that it was epistaxis caused by the inability to race on Lasix, the anti-bleeding medication that has been banned from graded stakes.

Ultimately, it turned out to be a broken bone in his nose, which came as the result of Imprimis breaking through the starting gate pre-race. Orseno said that the track veterinarian cleared Imprimis to run and the blood from his nose wasn’t detectable until after the race.

According to Orseno, Imprimis had a trace of blood in his trachea but “nothing like what was coming out of his nose.”

“If that happened before the race, the state vet would have scratched him for sure and been justified for doing it,” said Orseno.

Orseno got Imprimis back to Florida. The bone in Imprimis’ nose healed well enough for him to return to the work tab on May 9 at Gulfstream with the idea of running him in the Grade 1 Jaipur at Belmont on June 5. But Orseno said the bone wasn’t totally healed so he sent the horse to Ocala, Fla., where he got some time in a hyperbaric chamber.

“The horse is doing fantastic,” Orseno said. “He had a great work last week. He needs to run.”

Last year, Imprimis ran in the Troy off a nine-month layoff and scored a 2 1/4-length victory. But the stewards ruled that he interfered with Shekky Shebaz, who lost second by a head to American Sailor. Imprimis was disqualified and placed third.

“Their justification was I cost that horse a placing,” Orseno said. “That’s their judgment call. I can’t aruge with it. We moved on since then.”

Imprimis is scheduled to leave Florida by van on Sunday and arrive at Saratoga on Monday. This year’s Troy appears to be coming up strong with the likes of Bound for Nowhere, Carotari, Casa Creed, Classy John, Fast Boat, Fiya, Front Run the Fed, Lazuli, and Whisper Not in the field.