Keeneland: Owner rips state vet for scratching Franklin favorite

The owner of Future Is Now called out a Kentucky veterinarian for scratching the 5-year-old mare before she could defend her 2024 victory Sunday in the Grade 2, $400,000 Franklin Stakes at Keeneland.

“The state vet scratched Future Is Now,” Tracy Mulroy said in Sunday posts on X. “She is 100% sound. State vets in (Kentucky) are horrible. This is criminal. She’s been pointing to this race for eight weeks. ... Keeneland Racing, what say you? Why would we ever bring horses there again only for vets to scratch them when they’re 100% sound?”

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The identity of the veterinarian who made the call was not immediately confirmed. Dr. Nick Smith, the chief veterinarian for the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation, could not be reached for comment nor could a spokesperson for the KHRGC. A Keeneland spokesperson said Sunday that while it was unfortunate that Future Is Now was scratched, it was a safety matter in the hands of the KHRGC.

Mike Trombetta, the trainer of Future Is Now, had not responded to a text message from Horse Racing Nation asking for his view of what happened.

Future Is Now, who was the 7-5 favorite on the morning line, and 3-year-old maiden winner Lady Crush, a 30-1 long shot trained by Travis Murphy, both were reported as scratches which were made by the regulatory veterinarian. Future Is Now was said to be unsound, and Lady Crush was reported to be injured.

Most recently on last Saturday’s work tab, Future Is Now shipped in from Fair Hill in Maryland for what would have been her third start at Keeneland. She won the first two, including last year’s Franklin and the April 13 running of the Giant’s Causeway (G3), both over the same 5 1/2 furlongs of turf as Sunday’s race will be run.

Bred and owned by Mulroy’s late father Larry Johnson in Maryland, Future Is Now has not raced since Aug. 15, when she won the won the Smart and Fancy Stakes at Saratoga.

“The hardest part about this is we have such amazing memories with our dad and Future is Now,” Mulroy wrote on X. “She meant so much to him. It’s such an emotional thing to have it play out in this way with a scratch that’s just flat out wrong.”

Mulroy said the Franklin might have been Future Is Now’s last start.

“We were going to be making a decision about whether to retire her after the race,” she wrote. “Some Kentucky vet just made that a much more complicated decision needlessly. She's such a special horse, and this is just so wrong.”

Guanare, a 4-year-old colt trained by Robertino Diodoro, was listed as being unsound and was a regulatory-vet scratch from Sunday’s eighth race. The seven-furlong, main-track sprint worth $51,000 is for claiming horses who are in for a $16,000 tag.

The vet scratches came after breakdowns of first-time starters on the main track at Keeneland each of the last two days. Two-year-old filly Gotta Lotta Tempo on Friday and 2-year-old colt Cielo on Saturday were euthanized after suffering injuries in their spills.

Luna Louska, a 3-year-old trained by Gustavo Delgado, inherited the favorite’s role in the Franklin. The winner of four consecutive races including the black-type Floral Park on Sept. 13 at Aqueduct, Luna Louska was made the 3-1 second choice on the original morning line.

Seven fillies, all ages 3 and 4, are left in the Franklin, the seventh of nine races on Sunday’s card. It is scheduled for 4:12 p.m. EDT.