Lady Eli Jogs for First Time After Recovery

When undefeated 3-year-old filly Lady Eli jogged 1 1/8 miles Dec. 15 at Palm Meadows Training Center, it represented yet another stage in her courageous journey back from a case of laminitis.

Trained by Chad Brown, the daughter of Divine Park was diagnosed with laminitis in her front feet following a victory in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (gr. IT) July 4. That victory was the sixth in as many starts for Lady Eli, who has also won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (gr. IT), Appalachian Stakes Presented by Japan Racing Association (gr. IIIT), Miss Grillo Stakes (gr. IIIT), and Wonder Where Stakes. She has earned nearly $1.5 million.

Brown, who said he has had horses recover from laminitis but "not at this level," said the filly's recovery is attributable to a group effort on the part of many industry professionals, including members of his staff and that at Dell Ridge Farm near Lexington, where Lady Eli recovered from her laminitis.

"We have had an excellent group of people working on this case—employees of mine, different veterinarians, farriers, podiatrists, Dell Ridge Farm personnel—a large, talented team of people who did their part when asked to make the best decisions about Lady Eli at that given time," Brown said. "Through everyone's efforts and most importantly Lady Eli's efforts to overcome it, so far we're in a great place."

Brown is reluctant to speculate on Lady Eli's future, noting that the filly's recovery has come in stages.

"We've always handled this case in different stages, giving realistic goals, and she has hit every one of them," Brown said. "So right now we're at a stage where we wanted to get her out on the track jogging, which she is doing, and go from there."

Bred in Kentucky by Runnymede Farm and Catesby Clay, Lady Eli was purchased by Jay Hanley for $160,000 from the Eddie Woods consignment to the 2014 Keeneland April sale of 2-year-olds in training. She initially was bought by Bradley Thoroughbreds for $160,000 from the Runnymede Farm consignment at the Keeneland September yearling sale.