NEW YORK // Animal Kingdom, the Kentucky Derby winner, has a more serious leg injury than first anticipated and the colt will not race again this year.
The colt's owners, Team Valor International, said in a statement yesterday that a second set of X-rays has revealed a slab fracture in his left hind leg just above the small fracture to the cannon bone found two weeks ago.
Animal Kingdom will have a screw inserted to compress the fracture during surgery later today.
The colt will then return to his home at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Maryland, for 90 days of rehab.
Team Valor says Animal Kingdom will be out of training for three months, with the goal of returning for next year's Dubai World Cup.
