Irish War Cry vanned off in Stephen Foster, ‘physically fine’

Three-quarters of a mile into Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap, jockey Jose Ortiz knew it was futile moving forward with Irish War Cry, who was pressing the pace but has in the past suffered from an electrolyte imbalance known as thumps.

Warm temperatures cause the condition, and despite the Foster running under the lights, the thermometer was still touching above 85 degrees in Louisville.

“The information I’m getting from the on-track veterinary team is really more of a precautionary thing,” on-call vet, Dr. Keith Latson, told NBC Sports. “They wanted to load him on to the ambulance just to take him back to the barn area.”

Trainer Graham Motion credited Ortiz for knowing when to pull the plug on this effort, which followed one that showed much more promise. A 4-year-old by Curlin, Irish War Cry had just won the Pimlico Special (G3) but on a cooler day and in the slop on Preakness Stakes weekend.

“He spit the bit, and I knew after that I was in trouble,” Ortiz said. “…When it’s not too hot, he runs his ‘A’ race.”

“I second guessed my decision (to run),” Motion added. “I thought it would cool off. When we shipped out here it was really hot and tonight it just didn’t cool off at all.”