Snow Chief Will Not Race in the Belmont Because of Bad Ankle

Snow Chief, who suffered “a bump on his right front ankle” during or after the running of Monday’s $1-million Jersey Derby, will skip the June 7 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park.

Trainer Mel Stute said Tuesday that the injury was not serious, but that the colt’s team didn’t want to take any chances with the Preakness winner. Show Chief will be shipped back to California for a rest, Stute said at Garden State Park.

“The Belmont is a classic race, and we would have liked to run in it,” co-owner Carl Grinstead said of the final leg of the Triple Crown series for 3-year-olds.

Grinstead and Stute had differed immediately after Monday’s race. The trainer had wanted all along to give the California-bred a rest, but Grinstead had wanted to try the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, even though it would be the colt’s fourth race in 35 days.

When the minor injury was discovered, the Belmont was ruled out.

Snow Chief, a California-bred, finished 11th in the May 3 Kentucky Derby, his only loss in seven starts this year. He has earned $2.7 million, the seventh-highest amount in thoroughbred racing history, and has won 11 of 16 career starts.

Snow Chief scored a front-running, two-length victory over Mogambo in the 1-mile Jersey Derby. Tasso ran third, another 1 1/2 lengths back.

Snow Chief may be sent back East in an effort to sweep the New Jersey Challenge, which carries a $1-million bonus. The Jersey Derby was the first leg, followed by the Haskell at Monmouth July 26 and the Pegasus at the Meadowlands Sept. 12.

The colt’s next start will be June 29 in the St. Paul Derby at Canterbury Downs near Minneapolis. Track officials made the announcement Tuesday.