This story first ran in the November issue of BloodHorse. If you'd like to read more longform stories such as this one, please subscribe.
From his sightline within the owners’ boxes at Keeneland, David Fiske found himself watching the big screen situated in the track’s infield during the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). And like most of those in attendance that day, his focus was being stolen by the two-horse battle on the front end that had made its way up the backstretch and was now whirling away in brilliant fashion around the far turn.
As Fiske witnessed eventual Horse of the Year Flightline uncork his career-cementing surge past multiple grade 1 winner Life Is Good , the longtime manager of Winchell Thoroughbreds was hit with the first wind that something in his corner of the world had gone amiss. Travers Stakes (G1) winner Epicenter , the barn stalwart who had been worse than second just once in his 10 prior career starts, was nowhere to be found as the field turned for home.
What had eluded Fiske's vision was the series of unfortunate steps that threatened to claim the life of one of Winchell's most talented runners. Fortunately, a series of timely actions that would ultimately prevent a career-ending injury from becoming a fatal one was already in motion.
"I'm watching the horses coming around the turn and Flightline goes by and you're going, 'God, he's remarkable.' And then I went, 'OK, where's our guy?' " Fiske recalled of the moments after Epicenter was pulled up midway down the backstretch by jockey Joel Rosario during the 2022 Classic. "So, you backtrack around the track and by that time, I think the ambulance was already there. It was remarkable the attention he got and the speed to which they got assistance to him.
"Then they put the curtain up and it was like 'Oh no.' Then somebody said, 'NBC said he walked onto the trailer.' It was just kind of a roller coaster."
Those who make a vocation out of caring for and honing equine athletes must routinely steel themselves for the fact that it's not a case of if but when a worst-case scenario will come threatening their doorstep. Thus, most horse people spend a majority of their waking hours working to keep physical setbacks and illnesses from striking one of their own.
For all but a handful of steps during his racing career, Epicenter had largely avoided any such ailments while rattling off a string of top-level efforts that would earn him the 2022 Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old male. From the time he broke his maiden at second asking in November 2021, the son of Not This Time rarely went more than a month between race outings with a work pattern that resembled that of a metronome.
When potential tragedy nonetheless struck the colt Nov. 5, 2022, in the form of a lateral condylar fracture to his right front, what could have been a high-profile example of heartache ended up being a positive outcome that highlighted a convergence of industry advancements.
In his first year standing at Coolmore's Ashford Stud, Epicenter covered 262 mares—second only to roster mate Golden Pal in the number bred during the 2023 season. If his popularity with breeders is a testament to his class, his presence in the stallion barn is a tribute to the village it often takes to keep calamities at bay.
"When you're talking about progression, the first being the rider recognizing that something is going on, I think we're better at that than we used to be," said Dr. Larry Bramlage, who performed not one, but two surgeries on Epicenter at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington. "The second is the first aid. Those people have to get to him and get him stabilized before he does further injury. And the third is the development of the bigger screws (for surgery), especially for horses. Those three items made a big difference with him, and we've gotten better at all three of those items."
Steps From Disaster
Those who watched Flightline draw off to an 8 1/4-length triumph in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Classic had reason to believe his heroics that afternoon would stand as the moment that resonated most powerfully through the lens of hindsight. With respect to the championship-clinching exploits the son of Tapit threw down, it was Rosario's quick reaction time aboard his ailing mount that arguably goes down as the most exemplary actions of the two-day World Championships.
While surgery for condylar fractures has advanced to the point where it often produces a successful outcome, the difference between a routine procedure and recovery process and an injury that is unsalvageable is a matter of steps. If a horse is not pulled up in time after suffering said fracture, the periosteum—the covering of the bone that contains the nerve endings—can tear and dull the injured horse's pain, prompting it to try and run on.
The ill-fated poster child for such an incident is the champion filly Go for Wand, who broke down in the stretch of her battle with Bayakoa in the 1990 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) and fractured her leg beyond repair. Because Rosario was able to get Epicenter stopped in a timely manner, the stability of the colt's limb was maintained enough to allow for a viable surgery.
"What happens (with a condylar fracture) is like a series of dominos that fall, and most important is where the horse gets stopped in the process," Bramlage explained. "When the condylar fracture happens, the bone breaks, but if the periosteum stays intact, the horse is quite lame, but the bone itself, the integrity is preserved. But if a horse takes a few more steps with the condylar fracture, it becomes progressively less stable.
"Once it tears the periosteum, then it doesn't hurt again and they'll try and run on because...as soon as the initial pain shock is over, they feel like the thing is not as bad, so they run again," Bramlage continued. "Then what happens is they break a sesamoid and then that sesamoid becomes unstable, and they dislocate the fetlock joint. That's when the limb starts to sort of flop. When that happens, they destroy all the soft tissue; a lot of times destroy the blood supply and sometimes open the skin. Epicenter broke the condylar fracture, broke the sesamoid, started to get unstable but he got stopped just in time. He was just a step or two from being unstable."
A typical surgery for a condylar involves reattaching the fracture to its normal position with two to three screws, a procedure that can allow for horses to return to the races if the joint cartilage has not been damaged. A major reason why the surgery has made such headway is due to the development in the 1980s of larger, 5.5-millimeter screws made specifically for horses—a project Bramlage himself had a hand in when he was at Ohio State University during that time.
Since the advent of those larger screws, Bramlage estimates he has done hundreds of surgeries without having one break. With Epicenter, however, his fracture had gotten to the point where it lacked some of the key friction needed to help keep his repair in place.
"When a fracture occurs, there are little hills and valleys between the fracture...and we depend on those when we are doing routine condylar fracture repairs," Bramlage said. "The more steps they take, they sort of polish all of those off and make the fracture plane smooth. So then you don't have the friction you normally have to help support the repair. He got to that point.
"So, we put the fracture together with screws, but I actually was a little more aggressive than was good with him."
Nearly Broken Dreams
Rebecca Maker's reputation as an equine rehabilitation specialist is such that Fiske jokes her Shantera Farm in Versailles, Ky., could basically have its own Eclipse Award wing.
"She's where all of our post-surgery cases go and it's like the Hall of Fame over there at times," Fiske said. "You go over to Becky's and it's like, 'Oh, there's Epicenter, and there's (champions) Echo Zulu and Jackie's Warrior and there's Mitole .' It's crazy."
When Epicenter arrived at Maker's farm to rehab his injury, the intangibles that made him a standout on the track ended up playing an equally crucial role in his recovery. A good-minded horse who always learned his lessons without pushback, Epicenter's ability to keep himself in peak condition was put to the test as he adjusted to his new normal of hand walking and rest.
"He was a handful when he first came in here because he was absolutely ready to rock and roll and run the race of his life, and that got cut short," Maker said. "So, when he got in here, he was still thinking, 'Hey, I'm going to go run a race.' But after a bit, he was like, 'OK, I'm going to settle in and make the best of it.' He is very intelligent, and he has a very high propensity to heal himself. I think that kind of led to his being able to handle the second surgery."
Because Epicenter had also fractured his sesamoid, Bramlage had the colt shedrow walking early in his recovery since that injury is less painful when the fetlock is flexed—and getting him moving would help prevent laminitis from potentially setting in. In the weeks after he arrived at Shantera, however, Maker noticed he wasn't moving at the comfort level he should have been at that point.
As a precaution, Maker started taking X-rays of the colt every five days. That diligence proved invaluable as the radiographs showed the screws were indeed starting to break, necessitating a second surgery.
"I was expecting him to be lame but there were certain things he was telling me where I was like, 'This is a little more than the pain he should be having,' " Maker said. "I kept checking and eventually it showed one of the screws was getting ready to break, so they had to go back in. One surgery is hard enough for a horse to handle, so it's very tense. We constantly watched him and monitored him and...he came through that second surgery with flying colors. He just never looked back."
Added Bramlage, "Normally (broken screws) never happen because we don't allow a horse to walk for 30 days when they have a displaced fracture. But I was worried about him standing in one place and I got pretty aggressive with his aftercare. When we figured out what was happening, we added three more screws and that allowed us to get to the point in healing where it was comfortable, and we didn't have to worry about his other foot anymore. He got comfortable again and he was able to make it to the breeding shed on time."
Living Life to its Fullest
When Maker went to see Epicenter breed a mare at Ashford Stud last year, she was again impressed by the way the gentle giant she had spoiled with cookies during his convalescence was still making his well-being a priority.
"He was just like, whoop, nice and smooth. I was like, that is the most athletic horse. It was just so gentlemanly," Maker said, laughing. "It was funny, but again it was like he's taking care of himself."
Epicenter's day-to-day life is now no different than the rest of his illustrious mates in the Ashford stallion complex. When he is not residing next to 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify , he is turned out in a regular paddock. And when it came to adjusting to his second career, his enthusiasm was such that it would often take two people to get him out of the breeding shed.
"The fact that he's as fertile as he is given the surgery and the pharmaceuticals and antibiotics and pain medication is remarkable," Fiske said. "And he's a happy horse. He's looking across the aisle at (2015 Triple Crown winner) American Pharoah talking smack."
At a time when racing's social license is under question for its commitment to the health and welfare of its athletes, Epicenter's case ended up showcasing what kind of progress has been made on multiple fronts. For all that went wrong in those moments racing down the Keeneland backstretch, the former Steve Asmussen trainee ultimately ended up on the right side of racing's most crucial statistic.
"I think people sometimes think (horses) are just big pets. They don't understand that they are big, powerful animals, but they're incredibly fragile," Fiske said. "I don't know that (Epicenter) understands that he's lucky to be alive. But I think he's living every moment to his fullest."
This story first ran in the November issue of BloodHorse. If you'd like to read more longform stories such as this one, please subscribe.
