Tender left-hind ankle takes First Mission out of Preakness

Baltimore

It was around mid-week when Preakness 2023 preparations began to go awry for First Mission.

“(Trainer) Brad Cox worked with the 1/ST veterinary team the last couple of days to try and fully identify a left-hind (ankle) issue but were unable to do so on the grounds at Pimlico.”

That was the meat of the statement posted by Godolphin bloodstock director Michael Banahan on Friday at 7 a.m. EDT, when First Mission was announced by his owner as being scratched 36 hours before the second race of the Triple Crown.

Perform takes different path to Preakness.

“It was a tough pill to swallow,” Banahan said in a telephone interview early Friday with Horse Racing Nation. “We tried to figure out what it was, but we really couldn’t do any diagnostics up there on the track. We just felt like there was an issue.”

Without First Mission, who was the 5-2 second choice on the morning line, only six horses are set to line up and challenge Kentucky Derby winner Mage, who was made the 8-5 favorite. It will be the smallest Preakness field since 1986, when Snow Chief beat Derby winner Ferdinand by four lengths.

The scratch was spurred by the examination by veterinarians Dionne Benson and Scott Hopper, both of whom work for Pimlico owner 1/ST Racing. Banahan emphasized, however, that Cox and the Godolphin team were in lockstep with the decision to bench the Lexington Stakes (G3) winner and send him to a Kentucky clinic for further examination.

“We decided that we were going to scratch him,” Banahan said. “It was in collaboration with 1/ST Racing as well as their veterinary team. It was a collaborative approach. ... They had a concern about it and that the best thing to do was that we couldn’t run him, especially with what we’ve gone through the couple of weeks as well.”

That was a clear reference to the eight deaths since April 27 of horses racing and training at Churchill Downs, including seven in the buildup to the Kentucky Derby. Veterinarians were very visible this week checking on the soundness of all the Preakness horses.

“I’m sure they were,” Banahan said. “Again, big days of racing and heightened awareness. They’re going to leave no stone unturned.”

Cox asked not to comment about the scratch, deferring to Godolphin management Friday morning.

Banahan said First Mission would be shipped to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., to get to the bottom of what is wrong with the Street Sense colt’s ankle.

“We just felt like we needed to pull the plug and bring him down to Dr. (Larry) Bramlage and let him do a full evaluation of him and see what the issue is and what we need to do to try and resolve it if there is an issue,” Banahan said. “We’re not fully aware of exactly what the problem might be. We need to get him down there and do that full examination on him.”

First Mission appeared to gallop routinely Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but word of something going wrong spread on social media Thursday. Attempts to reach most connections right away fell short, although one did respond Friday morning by confirming that jockey Luis Sáez had been told Thursday of the intent to scratch.

“We are obviously very disappointed, but the welfare of the horse is our utmost concern, and we are going to take the necessary steps to determine the best course of action to get him back on the track,” Banahan’s written statement said.

First Mission was on the verge of making only the fourth start of his career. Last out April 15 he won by a half-length in the Lexington at Keeneland in his stakes debut. Runner-up Arabian Lion was made the 2-5 favorite Saturday for the Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness undercard.

First Mission broke his maiden March 18, winning by 6 3/4 lengths in a 1 1/16-mile race at Fair Grounds. His first race was Feb. 18, when he finished second in a three-quarter-length loss. Bishops Bay, who won that race in his own debut, finished second last weekend in the Peter Pan (G3) at Belmont Park.

The exit of First Mission from the Preakness came two weeks after a Kentucky Derby from which five horses were scratched. Early betting favorite Forte was among them after he failed a race-day veterinary examination that also made him ineligible for the Preakness.

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