Multiple stakes winner Ivan Fallunovalot, a son of Valid Expectations who was the 2015 Texas Horse of the Year, will be turned out for approximately a month at owner Lewis Mathews’ farm south of Hot Springs to recover from a quarter-crack, trainer Tom Howard said Saturday morning, an injury that will keep the gelding from running in the $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) April 10 at Oaklawn. The gelding finished second in last year’s Count Fleet.
“We gave it a shot, but where the crack is at, it’s in a difficult spot,” Howard. “It’s on the inside and back.”
The injury to Ivan Fallunovalot’s left front foot was detected in late February and kept the gelding out of the $100,000 Hot Springs Stakes March 5 at Oaklawn.
Howard said he hoped Ivan Fallunovalot could still make the Count Fleet, but the foot was tender following a half-mile work March 20 at Oaklawn. The gelding wasn’t nominated to the 6-furlong Count Fleet, Howard said, adding the hope is the gelding will be ready for the Remington Park meeting that begins in August.
Ivan Fallunovalot won the $100,000 King Cotton Stakes Jan. 30 at Oaklawn in his 2016 debut, increasing his career earnings to $536,910.
On behalf of Mathews, Howard claimed Ivan Fallunovalot for $25,000 at the 2014 Oaklawn meeting. Ivan Fallunovalot was bred by Eileen Hartis.
(from Oaklawn news release)