By Bloodhorse.com
DEL MAR, Calif. (July 29, 2017) –Trainer Richard Baltas said there’s a good chance Tom Mansor and Tachycardia Stables’ grade 1 winner Big Macher will be retired after a suspensory injury knocked him out of the July 29 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1).
The 7-year-old California-bred gelded son of Beau Genius, who won the Bing Crosby in 2014, sustained a similar injury that knocked him out of racing for all of 2016, but he targeted the Bing Crosby again after a quality win in the Thor’s Echo Handicap at Santa Anita Park June 11 to prep for the six-furlong sprint.
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“He strained the same spot as before—suspensory,” Baltas said. “It’s not really bad, but I’m not going to take any chances. I don’t think he’s going to run again. It’s going to take time, he’s 7, and I’m not going to run him for a claiming price. It just sucks, because he came back so good and he’s staying so good, but the last breeze here he came back with some inflammation.”
Baltas said it would take about six months to get Big Macher back into training, which would mean he wouldn’t be able to race until age 8.
“Last time it took him a year,” the trainer said. “He’s 7, turning 8. The last one wasn’t even that bad, but ligaments and tendons—they take a long time.”
A $20,000 claim in 2013, Big Macher went on to win six stakes for Baltas, including his first grade 1 as a trainer in the 2014 Bing Crosby, and has $744,288 in earnings.