Paladin back jogging at Saratoga, comeback hopes rise

Paladin was back jogging over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track after a recovery that sent the colt out of the Triple Crown picture in March. Trainer Chad Brown has not set a timetable for a return, but the colt’s move from rehab to jogging shows how his comeback is progressing.

Paladin’s route back began after a March 28 workout at Payson Park in Florida, when he covered a half-mile in 48.80 seconds and was later found to have a non-displaced condylar fracture in his right front ankle. The injury was not detected until he had returned to the barn. Brown said the fracture would require two screws, and Paladin was shipped to Rood and Riddle Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, for surgery with Dr. Larry Bramlage.

The colt spent his recovery at Ashford Stud in Kentucky before returning to Brown’s barn late last week. Brown credited the Ashford team for the way Paladin came through rehab. He is now jogging again, but he still has to keep advancing through more demanding gallops and works before Brown can think seriously about a comeback date.

The Gun Runner colt, out of Secret Sigh by Tapit, won the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes in February and had entered the spring as one of the leading Kentucky Derby hopes in the division. He was the favorite in future wagering earlier in the year and later became the second choice in a Derby futures pool before the fracture knocked him off the trail.

Paladin was sold for $1.9 million at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale and is owned by a partnership that includes Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Peter Brant, Brook T. Smith and Summer Wind Equine LLC.