Connections await 'definite diagnosis' for Red Ruby's return

Red Ruby’s return to racing, which was scheduled to take place last Saturday at Churchill Downs, has again been delayed.

The 4-year-old filly was held out last week from the Grade 2, $250,000 Fleur de Lis, the 1 1/8-mile feature for older fillies and mares won by Elate.

Trainer Kellyn Gorder said Monday that Red Ruby “tied up” days before the race, forcing connections to keep her out of the field. She’s resting at WinStar Farm, where Gorder said she’ll be rechecked in the coming days.

Gorder doesn’t have a timetable for Red Ruby's return, though he said the $750,000 Delaware Handicap (G2) on July 13 is out.

“We don’t have a definite diagnosis yet,” Gorder said. …

“We think it’s something up high in her hind end. We X-rayed the lower leg and those X-rays were clean. So we think it’s high up in the hind. It could be soft tissue. We’re just not sure.”

The Fleur de Lis had been targeted as the Kentucky-bred Tiznow daughter’s first race since she romped in the 2018 Delaware Oaks (G3) last July by 13 lengths. A splint bone issue sidelined Red Ruby for the second half of her 3-year-old campaign.

Red Ruby trained at Keeneland in recent weeks for the Fleur de Lis, with her last work a six-furlong breeze in 1:11.80 on June 1.

As a 3-year-old, Red Ruby scored two graded wins in the Delaware Oaks and Pimlico’s Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2). She’s campaigned by Brandi Nicholson and Sandra Sexton.

“It’s definitely disappointing,” Gorder said of the filly’s latest setback. “But that’s horse racing.”