Vodka Vodka finally gets relief from bruised foot

The $100,000 Bertrando Stakes for older California-breds last Saturday at Los Alamitos came and went without multiple stakes winner Vodka Vodka, but the weekend was not a total wash for the 5-year-old gelding. Vodka Vodka finally recovered from a bruised foot that prevented him from racing or working since his convincing victory April 5 in the $250,000 Sunland Park Stakes.

For weeks, trainer Aggie Ordonez soaked the gelding’s foot with Epsom salts and vinegar, waiting for relief from the bruise and underlying pus pocket. Last weekend, it finally popped.

“We’ve been soaking it and soaking it. It’s been a long time,” Ordonez said. “Last weekend I picked the foot up and I squeezed it on the bottom of the frog, and a [pus] geyser flew out. A huge bruise under the frog finally found an exit route.”

The relief was immediate for Vodka Vodka.

“He wouldn’t come to the front of the stall for a month, and now he’s like, ‘Oh yeah!,’ ” Ordonez said. “All of the sudden, he’s back.”

Vodka Vodka could resume working this weekend and will be nominated to the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 18 at Del Mar. That might be too much of a rush. If so, Ordonez has a backup plan.

“If we don’t make the San Diego, there’s the Cal-bred turf race,” she said, referring to the $150,000 California Dreamin’ Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf race Aug. 1 at Del Mar. “That seems a little bit more realistic.”

Vodka Vodka won the $175,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic on Jan 17 at Santa Anita, followed by a runner-up finish March 7 in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and a win in the Sunland Park Stakes. Owned by breeders Connie and Jerry Banker, McLean Racing Stable, and Ordonez, Vodka Vodka has won five races and $569,950 from 13 starts.

Om N Joy, 4-year-old half-sister to Vodka Vodka, is back on the work tab. On June 21, she posted her first workout since she won the Grade 2 Santa Margarita by nearly four lengths on May 30. Om N Joy is aiming to the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch on Aug. 1 at Del Mar, the same day Vodka Vodka could start in the California Dreamin.

Om N Joy and Vodka Vodka lead the 20-horse string Ordonez plans to take to Del Mar. The group includes an unraced sibling to Om N Joy and Vodka Vodka. Hot Hot Heat, a 3-year-old colt by Conquest Farenheit, is currently jogging and expected to debut later this year.