Bone Spurs Could Compromise Arazi’s Future

Arazi, the French colt who became the winter-book favorite for next year’s Kentucky Derby with an overpowering victory last Saturday in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Stakes, has bone spurs in his right knee that could compromise his future.

Instead of being flown back to France last Sunday, Arazi was sent to owner Allen Paulson’s farm in Versailles, Ky. Francois Boutin, Arazi’s trainer, said Tuesday night that the colt will remain in Kentucky for another month, to satisfy federal quarantine requirements, before being sent back to France. Arazi arrived in the United States with a temporary traveling permit that expires later this week.

“These spurs are something he’s always had,” Boutin said through an interpreter. “He has had them since he was a weanling. We are not concerned. It was a last-minute decision not to send him home Sunday. It will profit him to be looked after by Mr. Paulson’s veterinarians in Kentucky. No surgery is planned that I know of.”

Spurs, which occur in immature horses, result from a compression of the knee joints. They are caused by wear and tear and stress.

“A trainer who has a horse with spurs is sitting on a time bomb,” said a California veterinarian, who asked that his name not be used. “Spurs can become jagged, and then they can cause a horse a lot of pain. They can also break off and that’s when arthroscopic surgery is necessary.”

After Arazi had won six straight stakes in France following a defeat in his debut, Paulson sold a 50% interest to Sheik Mohammed al Maktoum for more than $5 million.

“Vets routinely fail to pass horses that have spurs,” the California veterinarian said. “For someone to pay that much for a horse with this problem, he would have to be convinced that (the horse) had enough ability to overcome the condition.”

For the Juvenile, Arazi was treated with phenylbutazone, a pain-killer that is permitted in American racing, but not in Europe. He was 13th in a 14-horse field going down the backstretch, then quickly passed every horse but Bertrando by the time the field reached the far turn. Arazi went by Bertrando in a flash heading into the stretch and beat the undefeated California colt by 4 3/4 lengths.

Paulson could not be reached for comment Tuesday regarding Arazi’s condition.

Boutin said that if Arazi is to run in next May’s Derby, he would give the colt only one prep race, in Europe, before they return to the U.S.