Finnick the Fierce sidelined with leg injury

Finnick the Fierce, the popular one-eyed gelding scratched the day before he was to run in the Kentucky Derby, will be sidelined for 30 days with a minor strain of the upper suspensory in his right front leg.

Dr. Larry Bramlage made the diagnosis after putting the 3-year-old through an extensive examination at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington. The injury should represent a relatively minor hurdle for the horse, which was born with a cataract on its right eye that forced the surgical removal of that eye.

“We know it is something that is fixable. He just needs a little rest and relaxation,” said Dr. Arnaldo Monge, who co-owns Finnick the Fierce with his trainer, Rey Hernandez.

Monge, a reproductive veterinarian with Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, noted that the problem had been difficult to identify because the youngster has an unusual gait as he strives to compensate for the absence of his right eye.

“This thing eluded a lot of people,” Monge told Horse Racing Nation. “Dr. Bramlage was able to pinpoint it. At least we know how to proceed.”

Finnick the Fierce is expected to resume training in October with the prospect of returning to competition late this season. The Breeders’ Cup World Championships, scheduled for Nov. 6 and 7 at Keeneland Race Course, are not under consideration.

“We always said that this was a horse for the long term,” Monge noted. “We’ll baby him as much as we can.” There is no timetable for the Dialed In gelding to return. No race has been targeted.

Dr. Monge obtained a loan to pay the $50,000 entry fee in behalf of himself and Hernandez in an effort to make their Derby dream come true. Finnick the Fierce was listed at 50-1 in the morning line after he drew the unenviable rail position, but he held the distinction of being the only expected Derby starter to have beaten heavily favored Tiz the Law.

After winning his career debut at Indiana Grand, Finnick the Fierce had placed second to Silver Prospector in the Nov. 30 Kentucky Jockey Club (Grade 2) at Churchill Downs. Tiz the Law finished a troubled third in the Jockey Club on a sloppy surface. That represented his lone defeat until he could not overtake stubborn front-runner Authentic in the Derby.

Finnick the Fierce gained his only victory this season when he was elevated to first because of interference in an April 4 allowance optional claiming race at Oaklawn Park. He showed he could compete with the elite members of his class, though, when he outran 62-1 odds to be third behind since-retired Nadal and King Guillermo (another Derby scratch) in the second division of the May 2 Arkansas Derby.

In a sign of Finnick the Fierce’s standing as a sentimental favorite, Dr. Michael Spirito, a senior surgeon at Hagyard, had offered to lend $30,000 to Monge to cover the entry fee for the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. The injury, of course, removed that potential start from consideration.

Monge’s association with Finnick the Fierce began when he was called to examine him hours after he was foaled. Despite the cataract, Dr. Monge was impressed by the horse’s frame. He wound up purchasing him for $3,000 as a weanling from Paige Gilster, his breeder, who was then a college student. He also agreed to house and care for the dam, Southern Classic, for one year at his Nicholasville, Ky., farm.

Monge credited on-track veterinarians for spotting a problem with Finnick the Fierce from the time he began training at Churchill Downs. “They basically stuck to their guns and did the right thing for the horse, and we appreciate that,” he said. “We really appreciate their looking out for our horse.”

As disappointed as Monge and Hernandez were about having their first Derby starter scratched, they are undeterred. “We’ll be back with another horse,” Monge said. “I’m confident we will be back.”