Sore shin sidelines Ethan's Baby

AUBURN, Wash. - Ethan’s Baby, the early leader among 2-year-old fillies at Emerald Downs following her dominant victory in the July 27 Angie C. Stakes, will not race again this year, trainer Howard Belvoir said Friday.

Ethan’s Baby came down with shin soreness after the Angie C., an injury that will take some time to heal but is not considered serious. Ethan’s Baby was not nominated to the remaining stakes races this year at Emerald Downs, and her owners, Todd and Shawn Hansen, would have had to pay supplemental fees to run her. That, coupled with the injury, convinced Belvoir to take a more cautious approach and skip the rest of the year. She had been scheduled to compete in the $50,000 Barbara Shinpoch Stakes on Aug. 17.

“It’s just too bad because she’d be 1-5 in there,” Belvoir said. “She was training good and everything, but a few days after the race, she had a little knot in there, and it got a little bigger. We X-rayed, and everything is good. We’ll ease her out, and we’ll bring her back in and run a few times next year.”

Ethan’s Baby, by Offlee Wild, won both of her starts easily, taking a maiden race by 5 1/2 lengths and then the Angie C. by 6 1/4. Belvoir remains enthused about her future, even if it will have to wait a few months.

“She’s good,” he said. “She’ll win races anywhere you go. She’s got all the right attributes. She feels good all the time, she’s straight-legged, and all through this – I trained her pretty hard – she got nothing except the shin. I don’t think the distance is limited. I think she’ll go any distance. She’s an awfully good filly.”