Sunday Silence May Miss Preakness : Hurting Right Foot Jeopardizes Chance at Triple Crown

The weekend could hardly have been worse for Charlie Whittingham.

Saturday, Whittingham’s 4-year-old colt, Lively One, ran 10th in the Pimlico Special. And now, the trainer’s Kentucky Derby winner, Sunday Silence, has a sore right front foot that jeopardizes his chances of running in next Saturday’s Preakness.

Sunday Silence, who has been described by Whittingham as a legitimate Triple Crown candidate, was favoring his right leg after a two-mile gallop at Pimlico Saturday.

Sunday, Alex Harthill, one of the country’s premier veterinarians, flew here from Louisville to examine and treat Sunday Silence. Harthill described the 3-year-old colt’s injury as a bruise. He said X-rays were negative, and time would determine whether Sunday Silence can run in the Preakness. The foot is being soaked in hot water and Epsom salts; no medication is being administered.

“Nothing is minor when you are talking about a horse like this,” Harthill said. “I think that if we don’t have any more bad luck--if nothing else happens--I think he’ll get over it.”

Whittingham would not describe Sunday Silence’s condition as lameness.

“The foot is tender, but it’s not lame,” he said. “He’s been on wet tracks since he got here from Kentucky, and there’s a new limestone bottom to this track. I had planned to work the horse (five furlongs) Tuesday, but even if we miss that, we could still be OK. We’ve got an extra day to get him ready if we need it.”

Sunday Silence’s absence would cost the Preakness its Derby rematch between Whittingham’s colt and Easy Goer, who finished second by 2 1/2 lengths at Churchill Downs. Easy Goer and his stablemate, Awe Inspiring, went off the 4-5 favorite in the Derby.

Before Sunday Silence’s problems, the Preakness was expected to be an eight-horse race. But now another probable starter is hurting.

Hawkster twisted the shoe off his left front foot while finishing fifth in the Derby--thought to be a minor incident at the time. But he is also showing discomfort.

Jim Stewart, a Pimlico veterinarian, said that Hawkster may have only a minor infection. Ron McAnally, Hawkster’s trainer, was due to arrive here from Los Angeles Sunday night and will examine the horse today.

“I thought there was a chance that the nail might have been too close to the quick,” McAnally said by phone. “My groom called me Saturday and said that there was a filling (swelling) in his ankle after he had galloped.”

The other probables for the Preakness are Dansil, who was fourth in the Derby; Northern Wolf, sixth in the Derby; Houston, eighth in the Derby after leading the race for a mile; Rock Point, second to Easy Goer in the Wood Memorial, and Pulverizing, who won the Woodlawn Stakes here a week ago after finishing next to last in the Derby Trial at Churchill Downs April 29.

Should Sunday Silence be scratched, however, several other horses would undoubtedly run in the Preakness. And if the forecast were for rain by next weekend, an even greater number of trainers could be tempted to run because two of Easy Goer’s three losses--in the Breeders’ Cup and in the Derby--came on muddy tracks at Churchill Downs.

The shoe was removed from Sunday Silence’s right front foot Saturday after heat and pulsating developed.

“He was not as aggressive coming off the track and he usually is, and that told us something might be wrong,” Whittingham said. “I was planning to gallop him maybe a mile and a half today (Sunday), but now we’ll wait and see if we can gallop him Monday.

“We could miss two days of training (Sunday and today) without a problem, but I wouldn’t want to miss any more. You don’t take short cuts to big races. If he’s all right for the Belmont (the third leg of the Triple Crown, on June 10), we’ll run there. If not, we’ll go back to California. The only way to play this game is hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

After reviewing the X-rays at midday Sunday, Whittingham returned to his hotel. He said that he and his wife, Peggy, had no special Mother’s Day plans, and it was just as well. The way the trainer’s weekend went, they probably wouldn’t have worked out, anyway.