Cryptoclearance, the stretch-runner who earned $3,376,327 in his four years of racing for Chicago owner Phil Teinowitz, has been retired to stud after being injured in training Sunday at Gulfstream Park.
The 6-year-old thoroughbred was preparing for Saturday`s Grade I Donn Handicap when he broke down.
According to trainer Scotty Schulhofer, ”He pulled a sesamoid ligament, tore it when he worked.”
The sesamoids are two pyramid-shaped bones found at the rear of the fetlock joint, just above the ankle. They serve as a pulley for the flexor tendons.
Although he is owned by a Chicagoan, Cryptoclearance spent most of his career racing in New York and Florida, where Schulhofer`s stable is based.
During the last two years, he invaded Chicago twice and captured the Grade II Budweiser-Hawthorne Gold Cup on both occasions.
All told, Cryptoclearance ran in 44 races, compiling a record of 12 victories, 10 places and 7 shows. Four of his conquests came in Grade I events. He also won two other Grade II races in addition to his two Gold Cups at Hawthorne.
