Trot Insider has learned that standout sophomore pacer Lawless Shadow will be sidelined for the rest of the season due to an injury discovered earlier this week.
Dr. Ian Moore, the trainer and co-owner of the son of Shadow Play - Ladycino, reported that the injury was found on the same foot that showed an abscess last week, prompting a scratch from the 2021 Pepsi North America Cup eliminations.
Lawless Shadow (5) and Mark MacDonald closing in the 2021 Meadowlands Pace
"What initially looked like a typical abscess situation, with all the history, clinical signs, etc., was starting to look like something else by Saturday and did not show Monday," said Moore, "but did on Tuesday as I was about to book an MRI."
After three sets of X-rays on that foot over a seven-day span, a fracture was found and that fracture will keep Lawless Shadow off the racetrack for the rest of 2021.
"Very devastating," relayed a dejected Moore, who stated that the fracture was the first for one of his horses in more than 50 years of training. "He is going to Pennsylvania for surgery next week and has a decent prognosis for return to racing next year. We are also exploring the possibility of a stallion career with or without return to racing."
Moore stated that the fracture had to have happened in his last race — a lifetime best 1:48.2 win in the final of the 2021 Max Hempt Memorial at Pocono on August 21 — as he "jogged 100 percent sound for five days after that."
That win in the Hempt was Lawless Shadow's fifth win in 10 sophomore starts. Lifetime, the 2020 O'Brien Award winner sports a summary of 9-6-2 from 19 starts with $878,130 in earnings for Moore and co-owners R G McGroup Ltd. of Bathurst, N.B., Serge Savard of St. Bruno, Que. and Frank Cannon of Sanford, Fl.
In addition to the Hempt, Lawless Shadow also boasts a placed-first win in the 2021 Meadowlands Pace among his three-year-old victories. And at a time when a number of major stakes were still in consideration for the Lawless Shadow camp even after the missed opportunity in the Pepsi North America Cup, Moore couldn't help but wish that the horse had more of a chance to prove himself this year against the Grand Circuit competition that he already showed an ability to both compete with and defeat.
"I just feel sorry for the horse more than ourselves because it seemed like he could've been the best horse we have ever owned, and that's saying a lot when we did own and race his father, Shadow Play."