by Karen M. Johnson
Tiz Wonderful, a graded stakes winner and undefeated 2-year-old last year, suffered a career-ending and potentially life-threatening suspensory injury and is being treated at New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa.
Tiz Wonderful was vanned off the track Sept. 12 after finishing second in the More Than Ready Stakes at Belmont Park. The injury occurred in his right hind leg.
Scott Blasi, an assistant to Steve Asmussen, Tiz Wonderful’s trainer, said the horse was transported to New Bolton at 5 a.m. EDT Sept. 13.
“There are no fractures,” Blasi said. “There is 90% damage to the suspensory outside and 75% on the inside. They have put a Kinsey splint on him to stabilize the leg and to get some connection in the tissue. It’s a day-by-day process."
Blasi said doctors Liberty Getman and Michael Ross from New Bolton are attending to the 3-year-old.
Said Getman: “It is a complete disruption of the suspensory ligament. It is a severe breakdown injury involving the soft tissue around the fetlock. It is definitely career-ending.”
Getman said Tiz Wonderful is outfitted in a Kinsey splint to stabilize the injury. She said a major concern is laminitis, a hoof disease that can lead to death and occurs when a horse displaces his weight more heavily on a non-injured limb.
Tiz Wonderful, owned by Stonestreet Stables, won three races from as many starts last year, including the Iroquois Stakes (gr. III) and Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II) at Churchill Downs. A son of Tiznow , Tiz Wonderful’s record is 3-1-0 from five starts, with earnings of $254,672.
Because of a tendon injury, Tiz Wonderful did not race this year until July 29, when he finished sixth in the Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga.