Indian On The Mend

Todd Pletcher has issued an upbeat bulletin on Fleet Indian after the filly was eased quickly in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

In a race that saw Pine Island, joint-favourite with Fleet Indian, put down following a bad fall down the backstraight at Churchill Downs, the five-year-old was initially diagnosed on-track with a leg fracture before X-rays discounted the possibility.

Pletcher has since reported his horse, unbeaten in her eight previous starts, would not have to undergo surgery and would instead need 30-60 days of box rest before beginning life at stud.

'We are still waiting for some of the edema (swelling) to go away before we take an MRI and ultrasound but, so far, X-rays are pretty clean,' the trainer said.

'There was no fracture, no broken bones. She suffered a tear in the lateral and medial suspensory branch in her left front ankle.'

The injury to Fleet Indian capped a downbeat day for Pletcher, who had high hopes of a record breaking day at the Breeders' Cup having saddled 17 horses across seven of the eight races.

He finished the day with no winners and said: 'It was a day that we have all the time in this business. One filled with ups and downs. The only difference was the ups and downs happened so quickly.'

It was not all gloom and doom for Pletcher, however. The trainer collected three seconds, three thirds and two fourth places at Churchill Downs, for total earnings on the day of 2,160,200.

(C) PA Sport