Ethereal Road will miss Belmont with quarter crack

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas reported on Monday morning that Aaron Sones’ Ethereal Road will not make the trip for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes due to a quarter crack in his right front hoof.

“He popped a quarter crack. We’ll soak it and get him better and look for another one,” Lukas said. “I really wanted to run him in [the Belmont Stakes], I thought that’s the one he really fit. But the horse has the final say, so we’ll have to skip it.”

Ethereal Road earned enough points to enter the Kentucky Derby after his second-place finish in the Rebel Stakes (G2) on Feb. 22 at Oaklawn. However, Lukas scratched him the day before the race. That scratch allowed eventual winner Rich Strike to get in off of the also-eligible list.

Ethereal Road most recently ran May 21 in the Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico. Sent off as the 3-2 favorite, he swung wide and finished well to win by 4 3/4 lengths over B Dawk.

Lukas mentioned the possibility of the $500,000 Ohio Derby (G3) on June 25 at Thistledown as his next start, with the $600,000 Jim Dandy (G2) on July 30 and the $1.25 million Travers (G1) on Aug. 27 at Saratoga Race Course as long-term goals.

“We’ll look at the Ohio Derby, definitely the Jim Dandy and Travers will be on our radar,” Lukas said. “We’ll bring him up to Saratoga, so we’ll look at that.”

Ethereal Road is the second horse to defect from Belmont consideration on Monday. Earlier in the morning, Dale Romans confirmed that Howling Time would point toward the Matt Winn (G3) instead of the Belmont. Those Monday changes leave eight horses probable for the Test of the Champion.

The Belmont Stakes draw is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 7.