The monolid eye was bred by the state of New York Un Ojo finished in a chaotic eighth place in the Arkansas Derby (G1) with some shoulder scratches and stiffness but still started the May 7 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).
Coach Ricky Courville said April 5 that Laoban’s son needed some surgical bandages on his left shoulder blade after hitting the tracks on April 2 on a $1 million deposit at Oaklawn Parkand will be walking the rest of this week as he recovers from the rough ride.
Owned by Cypress Creek Equine and Whisnking Oaks Ranch, Un Ojo is currently 10th on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 54 points after beating Rebel Stakes (G2) at 75-1 and collecting 50 points in that number.
“He’s been sawed and bounced off the fence twice,” Courville said. “He’s stiff and we’re going to give him some time to get over it.” “We’re still going to the Kentucky Derby for now. He’s got a good reason on Saturday. He and (the Barber Road runner-up) are traveling together so he could have been right there with a ride. Go clean.”
Un Ojo gets scratches and scuffs during running of the Arkansas Derby
Although Courville said Haircut line put Un Ojo in a position on the back of his chair, he believes that the problem is caused by the winner Cyberknife as he advances and joins the leaders on the leaderboards.
“The winner did it all. He crossed the track and went into a hole between the two horses and pushed us down the fence and Barber Road over our heads,” he said. “From there, Barber Road kept pressing on us and when it was their turn there was no room left.”
Courville says racer Ramon Vazquez told him Un Ojo, who lost his left eye due to longing, tried to jump over the rails on the final turn when he was squeezed.
“He kept hitting the rails and Ramon had to check him out and he said the horse panicked and tried to jump over the fence,” Courville said. “It was pretty bad. I’m surprised there was no investigation. I guess nobody saw it or cared about it. It was kind of a race.”
Courville said he will watch how Un Ojo recovers from the strain before deciding when to begin a series of exercises ahead of the Kentucky Derby.
“I’ll let him tell me as we work with him,” Courville said. “I’ll give him a week’s walk to give him time to get through this. Today was probably his worst day in terms of stiffness but he’s a brave little pony.”
Out of AP Indy mare Risk a Chance, Un Ojo was bred by Southern Equine Stables and has two wins in seven starts with earnings of $782,571.
