What Thoroughbreds have made comebacks from hairline fractures? Will Rags to Riches ever race again?

Question

Rags to Riches has a hairline fracture of her pastern sustained in Saturday's Gazelle Stakes. This made me start wondering what her chances of returning to racing are. What other horses have raced again after a hairline fracture? I can only think of Brass Hat, Personal Ensign, and Mariah's Storm. Are there others? Rags to Riches' connections have said that they hope to race her next year as a four year old. What are the chances she will recover enough to race again?

Answer 1

The injury isn't major and it's in a good spot (if there was one) to have an injury.  I think there is a better chance that she will return than not.  Coolmore will not be selling her foals, so really they are in no rush to start pumping them out.  If she was a colt she would have already covered test mares by now, but with the fillies they are a little more aggressive with keeping them on the track.  I'm sure if the injury heals the way it should they will send her back, she will be under a close watch in her return (like she wasn't already) and any little bump in the road will probably lead to retirement.  In my mind she has proven she is a very nice 3 year old filly, but not anywhere close to one of the best there was, she still has something to prove at 4.  She never faced older mares and aside from the Oaks and Curlin in the Belmont (who was running his 3rd race in 5 weeks) and Hard Spun who isn't a $50k claimer going 1 1/2 miles, she hasn't faced too many legit grade 1 horse.

Answer 2

They will never run her again. They paid $ 1.9 million for her and she has nothing to gain by running again. She will go to one of Coolmores big stallions.

Answer 3

According to what I saw on the Daily Racing Form site, the owners and Todd Pletcher want to run her as a 4-year old.  With an injury like this though, you wonder if it will be worth running the horse at 4.  Being a Triple Crown winner, especially the first filly to win the Belmont in over 100 years, makes this horse more valuable away from the track than actually at the races.

Answer 4

Plenty of horses have recovered from this kind of injury - and worse.  I have heard of horses racing again after breaking their pelvis and even vertabra in their necks.  Don't forget Cockney Rebel was all set for making a comeback in the QEII later this month following the hairline fracture in his pelvis.  It was only because he injured a tendon during a piece of work that he had to be retired.

I'm afraid I'm inclined to agree with others in this section - they will probably retire her to stud now.  On the other side though it is becoming more and more popular to keep good horses in training, so you never know.

Answer 5

Lots of horses return from minor fractures at every level of competition.  Add Corinthian, Johar, Madcap Escapade, McDynamo and Nothing to Lose as recent runners to return from a fracture to win at the G-1 level (and Second of June and Badge of Silver came back to win G-2s).  I'm sure there's plenty others.  Of course one of the major factors in returning a runner to competition is their worth in the breeding shed.  Horses like Afleet Alex, Round Pond and probably Rags to Riches retire from these minor injuries because they are likely to earn more money on the farm than with a return to the races.

Answer 6

Don't give up hope theres 32% chance she will race agian!

Answer 7

As other posters have noted, a hairline fracture is an injury that a horse can recover from and return to competition in top-class form.  I believe that from a veterinary standpoint, the prospects of her recovering top form and racing again are good.  However...

The Coolmore connections that own Rags have to be considering all their options.  Rags is owned by the same people who own European classic winner Peeping Fawn, who is closely related to Rags to Riches.  (http://www.pedigreequery.com/peeping+faw... compare with http://www.pedigreequery.com/rags+to+ric...  Peeping Fawn is by Danehill, and her dam is by Sadler's Wells.  Mating Rags to Sadler's Wells is a no-brainer.  But Sadler's Wells is 26 years old now, so if they want to breed Rags to him, they probably should do it next year.  

Coolmore is in a bit of a bind right now with the equine influenza epidemic in Australia.  A bunch of their stallions are stranded in quarantine and will probably not cover any mares, including leading Aussie sire Encosta de Lago.  He was set to cover 200 mares at a fee of $220,000 Australian.  Do the math, that's $44,000,000 in revenue that's lost.  Everyone is scrambling to salvage what they can of the southern hemisphere breeding season, Coolmore included.  I have to feel that they're going to do whatever they feel is best for their bottom line.  That may mean retiring Rags in time to breed her next spring.

Personally, I would love to see what she would produce to the cover of Sadler's Wells, so I'm sort of hoping they'll send her to England and breed her to him before it's too late.

Answer 8

Tons of horses come back from these kind of injuries. If the horse has alot of breeding value, they will usually retire it.

Answer 9

Yeah - Seabiscut, Ruffian and Nifty Edie.  Edie belongs to me. She was injured, she recovered and ran again.  She is now retired and living happily at Windy Knoll.  I am not sure if Rags will race again.  Some recover, some don't.

Answer 10

Ruffian did have a hair line fracture and she came back good as ever. But thats the only horse i can think of

Answer 11

If the people at Coolmore have any sense at all, they won't risk another injury with this filly and send her to stud. Horses can come back after injuries like this- but it's rare that the really valuable ones do. It would be better for the filly to just be retired now and built up over the winter, and they can send her to the breeding shed in February or March for a 2009 foal. She should produce some good ones, I think- and they can breed her to someone like Afleet Alex, or one of their own studs.  

I wish her the best, but I really have my doubts about a comeback.