Here is an honest question for anyone. Sighthound? Can you explain whether \"elevated liver enzymes\" are normal issues for horses? I\'ve read they are but..... What about in Grade 1 quality horses? And what about the likelihood of them both being in the same barn in the same year and having this happen (2011)? And is cancer common after this elevated enzyme level? And how come I\'ve never read about elevated liver enzymes in other trainers horses--is it because TAP is more forthcoming with information than other trainers?
Just seems to me that\'s just the most coincidentally, tragic set of events in one trainer\'s barn that could ever happen. Unless of course, you go back to the case of Left Bank, Freedom\'s Daughter, and Warners.....
Thanks in advance for any responses.
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Uncle Mo has been scratched from Saturday\'s running of the Kentucky Derby.
An intestinal problem was discovered after last year\'s Breeders\' Cup Juvenile champion finished third at the Wood Memorial on April 9. Trainer Todd Pletcher indicated recently that Uncle Mo had been recovering from the issue, but still said he and owner Mike Repole would wait until an examination from vets on Friday morning before making a decision on the colt\'s Derby status.
\"He\'s got one specific enzyme that\'s elevated that has everyone baffled, they can\'t identify why,\" said Pletcher at a Friday morning news conference. \"Generally, without getting too scientific, when this particular enzyme is elevated there is also something in the bloodwork that would lead them to the direction toward a liver or a kidney, but this specific case it\'s one single enzyme that\'s elevated that doesn\'t really lead you anywhere else.\"
\"The biggest thing I see is depressed appetite, loss of weight and his haircoat\'s not right,\" Pletcher added.
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Multiple Grade 1 winner Devil May Care, a starter in the 2010 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, was euthanized May 4 after a confirmed diagnosis of lymphosarcoma, a form of cancer.
Her dire condition was confirmed by veterinarian Johanna Reimer, a specialist in internal medicine and cardiology at Rood and Riddle in Lexington.
The 4-year-old mare by Malibu Moon out of the Red Ransom mare Kelli\'s Ransom earned $724,000 at 2 and 3. Her victories included the Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes, BetFair TVG Coaching Club American Oaks (Grade 1), Frizette Stakes (Grade 1) and the Bonnie Miss Stakes (Grade 2). Devil May Care finished 10th in last year\'s Derby.
Purchased for $110,000 by John Greathouse at the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale, Devil May Care was trained by Todd Pletcher.
According to Greathouse\'s Glencrest Farm, which raced the filly in all nine of her starts, she will be cremated following a complete autopsy. Devil May Care was bred in Kentucky by Diamond A Racing Corporation.
Devil May Care had been a hopeful for last year\'s Breeders\' Cup Ladies\' Classic at Churchill Downs, but her diagnosis with a non-contagious form of hepatitis last October forced her to skip the race. Since then, she had been on and off antibiotics and continued to carry an elevated liver enzyme count.
Greathouse said the filly had been hospitalized in Florida over the winter, where her condition had been monitored by veterinarians. The filly, who had also been treated for an inflamed bowel, was brought back to Glencrest this spring when she showed some slight improvements.
\"When she got here, she looked good,\" said Greathouse, who added Devil May Care was on steroid medications he believed had kept the cancer at bay. Although she did put on some weight while in Kentucky the last few months, her coat began to deteriorate, and veterinarians at Rood and Riddle did more tests on the filly that ultimately detected the cancer.
\"We went through a lot to keep her alive, and we were willing to walk that road with her, but it was a battle she was never going to win,\" said an emotional Greathouse, who expressed his deep respect for the filly.
