By Alan Carasso
Trainer Wesley Ward reports that Ron Gilbert's Evacuation (Aus) (More Than Ready), who was making his U.S. debut in Saturday's seventh race at Saratoga suffered suspected ligament damage to his right hind leg shortly after the start of the 5 1/2-furlong allowance/optional claiming test. The Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old was with the leaders through the opening exchanges, but became detached from the rest of the field, but was pulled up by jockey John Velazquez and was ultimately transferred via horse ambulance to the Ward barn.
“We think he might have torn a ligament a couple of jumps away from the gate,” Ward said. “None of the vets that came to see the horse after the race had ever seen that kind of injury.”
Ward added that Evacuation will undergo further testing to assess the damage at his barn Sunday morning.
“It's a very strange sort of injury. We took video of it. Until we take an ultrasound to see what kind of damage was done, it's kind of hard to say,” he said when asked about the colt's future. “I wouldn't want to say anything until we have a full set of facts. Dr. [Johanna] Reimer is coming in from Rood & Riddle and Dr. [Robert] Landry will do the ultrasound to see what kind of damage there might be.”
Trained in Australia by Gai Waterhouse, Evacuation broke his maiden at first asking and made it two-for-two in handicap company a few months later. He was unplaced in two subsequent tries and was having his first run since finishing 13th in the G1 Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas last October.
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