Foot Injury Flares; Perfect Drift Done for Year

(From track report)
A recurrence of a foot infection knocked Stonecrest Farm's Perfect Drift out of Friday's $400,000-added Clark Handicap (gr. II) at Churchill Downs and has ended the season for the third-place finisher in this year's Kentucky Derby (gr. I).

Trainer Murray Johnson had been treating a small abscess discovered in the right front foot of the 3-year-old Dynaformer gelding since its discovery on Saturday morning. Perfect Drift missed two days of training, but the foot responded to treatment and Johnson's horse was fitted with a new shoe and returned to training at Churchill Downs' Trackside Louisville training center on Monday. But Johnson said the problem resurfaced at midweek and had no choice but to pull Perfect Drift from consideration for the Clark.

"The foot flared-up," said Johnson. "There was a bit of heat in it and he was little tender on it."

Johnson said this latest setback would probably end Perfect Drift's 3-year-old season.

"I believe we'll just stop on him and give him a little time and have him back for the spring," Johnson said. "It's disappointing. I'm not sure what we're dealing with his feet, so I guess we need to take care of that, let that grow out and start from scratch."