Fan favorite Spicer Cub suffered a displaced lateral condylar fracture of his left hind leg during Saturday’s Maryland Million Starter Handicap, trainer Mary Eppler told The Racing Biz. He underwent surgery with Dr. Dean Richardson yesterday at New Bolton, and the prognosis so far is positive.
Eppler believes that the horse will be able to run again following a four- to six-month recovery period.
The four year-old gelded son of Louis Quatorze finished second at odds of 11-1 in the $50,000 event after leading in mid-stretch. Eppler believes that he may have suffered the injury during the last sixteenth of a mile of the race. He appeared sound immediately following the race but had to be be vanned from the test barn back to Eppler’s barn at Laurel.
Eppler did not know what might have caused the injury, calling Spicer Cub “probably one of the soundest horses I have in the barn.”
Spicer Cub became a fan favorite in April, when in a maiden race at Pimlico, he bolted rounding the turn, righted himself, then suddenly swerved to the far outside of the racetrack between the rail and the starting gate. Once straightened away, he rallied to be second by just a nose.
Two races later Spicer Cub broke his maiden at Delaware Park and subsequently won a first-level allowance.
Eppler, who called him something of a barn favorite, described him as “such a funny horse.” She added, “He’s just a character — he gets into everything.”
Spicer Cub has two wins and four second-place finishes from 13 career starts, with earnings of $70,460.
(Featured image by Jim McCue, Maryland Jockey Club.)
SPICER CUB’S WILD RIDE
Great to see Spicer’s connections giving him every chance to recovery and return to racing. Praying for his full recovery.
I love Spicer Cub and have been following him since his famous race at Pimlico. Praying for an uneventful and complete recovery! Happy that he has owners/breeders that care about him.