First Lady Out Of Triple Crown

Thoroughbred, The First Lady, will take no further part in the 2018 Triple Crown Series being staged by the Antigua Turf Club (ATC).
This was confirmed by trainer, Neil Cochrane, after the horse failed to run from the gate during last Sunday’s second leg, the APUA Inet Sir Cuthwin Lake Super Sprint, held at the Cassada Gardens Race Track. 
The issue, according to Cochrane, has proven more problematic that originally thought and maybe a sabbatical from the track would do the animal some good.
“We have consulted with experts in relation to the situation with The First Lady and we have tried several strategies and obviously they are not working. She has come out of the gate on occasions whereas in one or two other races she has not, so it is not a problem that can lead her down to ‘Spliff’ [Baldwin Anthony] or a problem that leads her to the breeding farm, it is a problem we have to deal with in a different strategy,” he said.
“She will be placed on at least a 60-day cleansing regimen off the race track itself in terms of exercising and so on. I am going to place her on a 60-day leave to start the process all over again,” he added. 
On Sunday, The First Lady left the gate almost 15 seconds after the other horses had bolted, finishing at the back of the pack for the second time in the Triple Crown.
The horse, in the first stage event, left the gate well but still finished last in the Antigua Black Pineapple Stakes.
It is not unusual, according to Cochrane, for horses with gate problems to
find their way to Antigua as the turf club only introduced a starting gate a few years ago.
“When we started to really get deep into the importation of horses in the early 90s out of the States (U.S.A.) and Puerto Rico in particular, we were fortunate to have gotten good horses as a result of the fact they were not coming out of the gate. We were not using gates, we were using flag starts so we got these horses that were about to be condemned wherever they were in the U.S. and Puerto Rico because they were not coming out of the gate so we understand that the problem exists. A lot of horses, in any racing jurisdiction [have] a similar problem,” he said.
He’s Sensational took the second leg of the Triple Crown. The race carried a purse of EC$9,375 with EC$5,000 going to the winner.
The third and final leg of the Triple Crown Series, The Governor General’s Cup is slated for July 8.