Multiple stakes-winning sprinter Ivan Fallunovalot, the 2015 Texas Horse of the Year, is iffy for the $100,000 Hot Springs Stakes Saturday at Oaklawn because of a quarter-crack that popped up on the inside of his left front foot earlier this week, trainer Tom Howard of Hot Springs said Sunday morning.
Howard said blacksmith Richard Fires applied a patch to stabilize the injury late Saturday morning. Ivan Fallunovalot, a gelded son of Valid Expectations bred by Eileen Hartis, didn’t train Saturday, Howard said, but returned to the track Sunday and jogged two miles.
“Ivan did good,” Howard said.
Howard praised the work of Fires, the nephew of trainer Jinks Fires of Hot Springs.
“Richard Fires, he’s a miracle worker,” Howard said. “It looks pretty good right now.”
Still, Howard said he’s not “100 percent sure” Ivan Fallunovalot will run in the Hot Springs, the final major local prep for the $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) April 10.
Ivan Fallunovalot, in his 2016 debut, defended his title in the $100,000 King Cotton Stakes Jan. 30 at Oaklawn. He had finished second in last year’s Hot Springs and Count Fleet.
This year’s Hot Springs closed Friday with 41 nominations. Subtle Indian, a two-time allowance winner at the meeting, and multiple stakes winner Hebbronville are scheduled to run in the 6-furlong Hot Springs.
(from Oaklawn news release)