ELMONT, N.Y. — Hoof specialist Ian McKinlay repaired Big Brown’s quarter crack in a 10-minute procedure at about 10:45 a.m. Monday, and trainer Rick Dutrow and co-owner Michael Iavarone expressed confidence that the undefeated colt would run June 7 in the Belmont Stakes.
McKinlay put two stainless steel wires across the five-eighths-of-an-inch vertical crack at the back of Big Brown’s left front foot. Then he drew the crack together and stitched it up. He said the horse limped for a few steps — as Dutrow said, “Ouch, ouch, ouch,” — then was fine.
“The crack is actually very simple, other than the magnitude of the race,” McKinlay said near the colt’s Barn 2 on the Belmont park backstretch. “I’ve done this procedure on horses that have won on the same day.”
McKinlay will clean out the area Wednesday, replace the stitching, cover the crack with adhesive and apply a fiberglass-reinforced patch.
McKinlay said there “definitely” was no infection Monday. “My guess is that he’ll be back (on the track) Thursday,” he said, “but maybe we’ll push it back until Friday.”
Until Big Brown resumes galloping, which he hasn’t done since Friday, exercise rider Michelle Nevin is walking him around the shed row twice a day for 30 minutes at a time. Because he’s been idle in the mornings, he’s been unusually frisky.
The adage is “No hoof, no horse,” because bad feet can have a domino effect on the legs, shoulders, back and hind end. Dutrow said this minor injury would not stop Big Brown from being at his best for the Belmont.
“It scares you when something like this happens, but it has nothing to do with his ability to finish what he started,” Dutrow said. “It’s just a little thing. The time he’s missed means nothing to me or to him. No way missing six or seven days is going to affect the outcome.”
Dutrow joked that now McKinlay is training the Triple Crown hopeful. The Ontario native is neither a veterinarian nor a blacksmith but has been tending to horses’ feet for 31 years. “It’s common-sense stuff, nothing magical,” Dutrow said.
McKinlay used to assist Rick’s father, trainer Dick Dutrow, who died in 1999. “Ian is an expert,” Rick Dutrow said. “He’s the best foot guy you can have around a horse.”
Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
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