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Report: Ankle Injury Forces California Crown Winner Subsanador To Miss Breeders' Cup
Wathnan Racing's Subsanador, who scored a hard-fought victory over a pair of Bob Baffert trainees in the Grade 1, $1-million California Crown at Santa Anita on Sept. 28, will be sidelined several months with an ankle injury and forced to miss the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 2, Daily Racing Form reported.
“We found a problem in his ankle and we’ll have to turn him out,” Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella told DRF's Steve Andersen. “It’s not a big problem. We’ll have to stop and come back next year.”
Mandella said surgery would not be necessary.
A multiple G1 winner in South America, Subsanador was trained by John Sadler when he first came to the U.S. in 2023, then transferred to Mandella after being purchased privately by his current owner. He finished fourth in his U.S. debut Dec. 26 in the G2 San Antonio Stakes, second in the G1 Santa Anita Handicap, and fourth in the G2 Hollywood Gold Cup.
Subsanador broke through with a victory in the G3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park Aug. 17, then won a narrow victory over National Treasure and Newgate in the 1 1/8-mile California Crown under Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith, coming from just off the pace to win by a head.
The victory in the California Crown (formerly the Awesome Again Stakes) came in a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" Challenge Series race giving the winner a fees-paid berth for the Breeders' Cup Classic.
