Mister Frisky Fights for Life in New Jersey

Mister Frisky, the Santa Anita Derby winner whose 16-race winning streak ended in the Kentucky Derby and who then finished a distant third in the Preakness, is fighting for his life in a New Jersey clinic.

Robert Fritz, a Long Island, N.Y., veterinarian who is treating Mister Frisky in Clarksburg, N.J., said Friday that the colt “is undergoing intensive therapy for a severe abscess of the throat that ruptured.”

Fritz listed Mister Frisky’s condition as serious and guarded.

“The horse is giving it a strong fight,” Fritz said. “He is battling as hard now as he ever did on the track.”

After running eighth as the Derby favorite May 5, Mister Frisky finished more than 11 lengths behind Summer Squall in the Preakness.

Shipped from Pimlico to Belmont Park a couple of days after the Preakness, Mister Frisky developed a fever before the abscess was discovered.

Trainer Laz Barrera said that at one point there was a danger that the horse might develop pneumonia.

Mister Frisky, who won his first 13 races in Puerto Rico before adding three more victories under Barrera at Santa Anita, had been scheduled to run in the Belmont, the final Triple Crown race, a week from today.

“Mister Frisky had an abscess that grew to the size of a grapefruit,” Fritz said. “It is down to about the size of a tennis ball now.”

Mister Frisky, who has been treated with antibiotics, has lost about 100 pounds.

“At least he is swallowing water now,” said Barrera, who is keeping in touch with Fritz from the trainer’s barn at Hollywood Park. “But he still can’t eat because of this condition. He’s mad, because he wants to eat.”

Gary Stevens, Mister Frisky’s jockey, attributed his performance in the Kentucky Derby to a dislike for the track at Churchill Downs. But after another dull performance in the Preakness, Stevens was puzzled.

There has been speculation that the infection might have been bothering Mister Frisky before the Kentucky Derby.

“I don’t know about that,” Barrera said. “He looked so good in Kentucky. We checked his temperature every day, and there was never any fever. Anybody who saw him in Kentucky can’t believe he’s sick now, because he looked so good there.”