Sir Winston sidelined with ankle injury

ELMONT, N.Y. – Sir Winston, the Belmont Stakes winner, will join Country House, the Kentucky Derby winner, on the sidelines at least through the major races in the 3-year-old division this summer.

Trainer Mark Casse said Sir Winston is dealing with an injury to his left front ankle and will be out of training for a little while. Shortly after the Belmont Stakes, Casse brought Sir Winston to his farm in Ocala, Fla., where he is simply walking.

“I’m not going to rush him,” Casse said Wednesday. “It will keep us out of the Travers for sure. My plan is to have him ready for the fall, with the Pegasus in mind.”

Casse was referring to the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in late January. In 2019, the purse of that race was $9 million.

Sir Winston has run five times this year, starting with a fourth-place finish in the Withers at Aqueduct in February. He finished second to Global Campaign in the Peter Pan at Belmont on May 11 before taking the Belmont Stakes by one length on June 8.

When Casse does put Sir Winston back in training, he plans to use an Aquatred, an underwater treadmill.

“He’s a hard horse to train because he puts nothing into his works,” Casse said. “You almost have to run him into shape.”

Sir Winston joins Country House on the shelf for the summer. Last weekend, trainer Bill Mott said Country House would be out of training for 60 days, and he does not plan to run him again this year.

That leaves Preakness winner War of Will to carry the mantle for the spring classic winners. Casse said War of Will is at Keeneland and will be based at Saratoga during the summer. Casse said War of Will could run in the Jim Dandy on July 27 or simply train up to the Travers on Aug. 24. Casse said he does not plan on running War of Will in the Haskell on July 20 at Monmouth Park.