Belmont Winner Sir Winston to Miss Summer Season

Awesome Again colt getting time off in Ocala, Fla., with a minor ankle injury.

Belmont Stakes winner Sir Winston will miss the 2019 summer racing season with an unspecified front ankle injury, according to multiple reports Wednesday. 

Trainer Mark Casse told media he expects the horse to come back for a 4-year-old campaign, if not this fall.

Sir Winston joins Country House, the elevated winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), on the sideline after trainer Bill Mott reported June 16 that the Lookin At Lucky  colt would be turned out at Blackwood Stables in Versailles, Ky., and would likely not race again this year.

Sir Winston, winner of the June 8 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), will get time off in Ocala, Fla. 

Bcause of a minor ankle issue and will not contest the summer 3-year-old races, trainer Mark Casse confirmed June 20.

Five weeks ago, his colt War of Will nearly went to his knees in the Kentucky Derby. 

He got tangled with the apparent victor, Maximum Security, who had jumped a puddle, veered right and subsequently was disqualified for interfering with his rivals, giving the win to Country House.

Sir Winston, who was making his Triple Crown debut, finished second in the Peter Pan Stakes, the traditional prep for the Belmont.

Joevia, who set the early fractions and led all of the way until Sir Winston overtook him, proved he belonged after struggling to a seventh-place finish in the Wood Memorial.  "That was quite a thrill,’ said trainer Greg Sacco. “He's a really talented colt. We knew the Wood wasn't any indication of his ability. He's a 3-year-old improving at the right time of the year.”

For the second time in the last three years, the Triple Crown series gave us three different winners and chaos heading into the summer season of racing with no clear cut favorite in the 3-year-old male division.

Locally, we head into the Canadian Triple Crown season, a series in which Casse has thrived in recent years, sweeping all three of last year’s races with two different horses. 

He’s won four Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie and has a strong string again this year heading into the Plate.

One thing’s for sure, if the American Triple Crown was any indication, Mark Casse will have a say in it.