Graded Stakes Winner Wildcat Red Sidelined

Multiple graded stakes winner Wildcat Red exited his fifth-place finish in the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Classic with a right hind injury, trainer Jose Garoffalo said Jan. 19.



The Florida-bred 4-year-old son of D'wildcat   will undergo an MRI exam this week at the Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, Fla., and Garoffalo said he hopes to have the results by the weekend.



"He had a problem in his back, probably a torn muscle or a torn ligament. We're going to send him to the clinic and do all the tests," Garoffalo said. "He's going to be out for a while. It's OK. Sometimes, things happen. The prognosis is positive. All he needs is some time off."



Wildcat Red was making his seasonal debut in the 1 1/8-mile Millions Classic at Gulfstream Park, where he was sent to the lead from post 5 by jockey Joel Rosario and blazed a quarter-mile in :22.76 before sharply dropping back and winding up next-to-last, beaten 19 1/4 lengths by longshot Sr. Quisqueyano.



"It was an obvious problem, because he had never run like that," Garoffalo said. "He's going to come back. We're going to take very good care of him."



Wildcat Red finished first or second in eight previous starts at Gulfstream Park, five of them wins, including the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth (gr. II) and Hutcheson (gr. III) and a neck loss in the Besilu Stables Florida Derby (G1).



Purchased for $30,000 as a 2-year-old in training, he has banked $936,875 in 14 lifetime races for Salvatore Delfino and Josie Martino's Honors Stable Corp.



"It's not going to be a career-ending injury. He's still a young horse and we still have plenty of time ahead," Garoffalo said. "He deserves the best. We're going to give him the time he needs. We're going to do all the tests he needs to do. Time will heal. Time heals everything."