Grade 2 winner FRENCH PARK (Ecton Park) has been taken out of consideration
for the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1) after suffering an ankle injury during a
workout last Sunday at Churchill Downs. Trainer Helen Pitts informed Churchill
officials late Thursday that French Park would undergo surgery Friday at Rood &
Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, to remove a bone chip in her
ankle.
“She worked well and worked well within herself,” Pitts said. “She cooled out
fine and walked fine, but on Monday there was quite a bit of heat (in the
ankle).”
An X-ray revealed the bone chip, and the gray filly will be sidelined about
two months after the surgery.
“The chip is very clean,” Pitts explained. “There’s no damage done to the
joint. It’s not a big deal, but it’s just an unfortunate thing.”
French Park captured last year’s Golden Rod S. (G2) and Pocahontas S. (G3),
both at Churchill, and made her sophomore bow a head second in the
Silverbulletday S. (G3) two back. She was scheduled to go in the April 14
Beaumont S. (G2) at Keeneland before her Oaks run.
Wagering on French Park in Pool 3 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager has been
suspended.