Rick Porter’s Grade II winner Old Fashioned is out of the Triple Crown and is likely to be retired after sustaining a non-displaced slab fracture of his right knee during his runner-up finish in Saturday’s Arkansas Derby.
The son of Unbridled’s Song is slated to ship to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington Monday where he will undergo surgery.
“He’s doing well, he’s resting comfortably and he looks like he’ll be able to ship tomorrow (Monday),” trainer Larry Jones said Sunday morning. “We’ll be in touch with Dr. Larry Bramlage and hopefully he can do the surgery. I would think so (that it is career-ending) at this point just because of the caliber of horse he is. If he were a younger horse who may not have started his career yet and didn’t have the reputation on the line that he has, I would think he could come back and race. But we don’t want to do anything to tarnish his reputation.”
Old Fashioned, along with stablemate Friesan Fire, has been part of a 1-2 punch for Larry Jones this season. The gray colt dazzled when he captured the Grade II Remsen Stakes by 7 1/4 lengths as a juvenile and won the Southwest Stakes in his season bow this year.
Old Fashioned suffered his first career loss when he was defeated by Win Willy in the Rebel Stakes in March and was a game second to Papa Clem in Saturday’s Arkansas Derby after setting the early pace.
“He’s been a very good horse to be around we’re just thankful that he’ll be able to live a pain free life after this and be able to run and buck and kick,” Jones said.
Alicia Wincze Hughes is the turf writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. She started riding at age 8 and was a four-year member of the Pace University equestrian team.
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