Epicenter, recovering from surgeries, arrives at Ashford Stud

Epicenter, healing from a broken bone he suffered in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 5, reached another milestone in his rehabilitation on Friday. He relocated to Ashford Stud, where he will begin his stallion career this season.

The Travers (G1) winner and Eclipse Awards finalist relocated from Rebecca Maker's Shantera Farm on Friday, as reported by Claire Crosby of BloodHorse. He was at the farm recovering from a pair of surgeries.

His first surgery was to repair the condylar fracture, a break in his cannon bone above the fetlock, that he had suffered in the Breeders' Cup. He had screws inserted to repair the bone. However, Fiske informed Crosby that the screws broke when Epicenter started walking agian in December, and he had a second surgery to fix that issue. He also stated that Epicenter was back to walking twice a day, and would continue to do so at Ashford.

David Fiske, racing manager for Epicenter's racing owner Winchell Thoroughbreds, shared a video Friday of the horse leaving his stall and walking to the van that would take him to Ashford.

Fiske also shared an image Friday of Epicenter settling in at Ashford, in a stall next to 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify.

Epicenter is a finalist for champion 3-year-old male of 2022 after winning the Travers (G1), Jim Dandy (G2), Louisiana Derby (G2) and Risen Star (G2). He also finished second in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness after being sent off the favorite in both races. Epicenter finished his career with a record of 11: 6-3-0 and $2,940,639 in purse earnings; his only off-the-board finishes came in his debut and the Breeders' Cup Classic where he was injured.