Tom McCarthy’s General
Quarters, winner of the Grade I Blue Grass Stakes last year and the Grade I
Woodford Reserve Turf Classic this spring, returned to the track Thursday at
Churchill Downs for the first time since his disappointing sixth-place finish
in last Saturday’s Grade III Arlington Handicap as the final designed prep for
Arlington Million XXVIII.
“He went very, very well when
we took him back to the track yesterday,” said owner-trainer McCarthy of his
gray 4-year-old, speaking over the phone from Louisville
Friday. “He was hitting the ground very well the whole time he was out
there. We also took some X-rays and everything looked a hundred per cent
in the pictures.”
The positive report lends
credence to the possibility of a return trip by General Quarters for a run in
the Grade I Arlington Million Aug. 21. What would be a prerequisite,
however, is some rain in Chicago
over the next three weeks to soften the local turf course.
“I think he just took a bad
step and wrenched an ankle a little bit early in the race the other day,”
McCarthy said. “After that he didn’t even try. Hopefully, it’s
going to be just like when a human sprains an ankle slightly and it turns out
fine the next day.”