Surgery Oct. 13 on promising 2-year-old colt Here Comes Frazier to correct a multi-piece fracture of the right hock (tibia bone) was successful and the prognosis is good the son of Badge of Silver could eventually return to competition, according to trainer Ken McPeek’s office.
Here Comes Frazier was injured when he swerved into the rail just before the eighth pole while on the lead over 11 rivals in the Oct. 9 Bourbon Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland. The accident sent jockey Julien Leparoux over the rail and into the infield. The rider sustained minor injuries in his right hand.
In an e-mail distributed late in the day Oct. 13, McPeek Racing said the surgery to remove the multiple pieces of bone in the tibia was performed the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital near Lexington by Dr. Alan Ruggles, with Dr. Larry Bramlage attending.
“The surgery went well and both vets were pleased with how the procedure and overall process to remove the multiple bone fragments went,” the e-mail stated. “Here Comes Frazier Came out of recovery very well and walked normally on his own back to his stall.”
Ruggles reported that Here Comes Frazier would need an extensive period of time to recover from the surgery and to allow a hairline fracture detected in his talus bone to heal. The decision to proceed with the tibia surgery was made after Ruggles and Bramlage reviewed X-rays of the hairline fracture and determined it would not pose problems during or after the colt’s operation. The colt was equipped with a special shoe before the surgery to help pad his sole, provide support, and help prevent laminitis.
“Had the hairline fracture been bothering him and been an issue, he would have been trying to walk more on his toes or favoring it, but he was walking flat-footed like a normal horse’s gait,” the McPeek Racing report said. “X-rays they took after the surgery showed no displacement of the hairline fracture in the talus bone…”
The report went on to say that such a hairline fracture usually does not require surgery and will heal on its own.
“Dr. Ruggles said the prognosis is favorable that Here Comes Frazier could race again—it will just be a long recovery and the colt will need to be given time to properly heal,” McPeek Racing said.
Here Comes Frazier is scheduled to remain at Rood & Riddle for a week to 10 days and will be released once his sutures have been removed.
Racing for the Magdalena Stable of McPeek and partners, Here Comes Frazier was making his second career start in the Bourbon Stakes, having previously broken his maiden at first asking at Arlington Park.
Bred in Kentucky by Copper Cap Farm, Inc., Here Comes Frazier was purchased by South Coast Bloodstock, as agent, for $35,000 from the Copper Cap consignment to last year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale.
Here Comes Frazier
Anne M. Eberhardt