Cleburne Out of Juvenile

Cleburne Out of Juvenile With Bucked Shin
By Claire Novak
Bloodhorse


Donegal Racing's undefeated Cleburne, winner of the Iroqouis Stakes (gr. III) at Churchill Downs, will miss the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) with a bucked shin, trainer Dale Romans confirmed Oct. 31.

The 2-year-old son of Dixie Union worked five furlongs in 1:00 at Santa Anita Park Oct. 26, and Romans suspects the injury occurred at that time.

"I guess it came up when he worked the other day and if finally popped out on him the other morning," Romans said. "Left shin. It's just a normal shin, it won't take long; he'll get over it.

"It might be a blessing in the long run; hopefully he'll be fresh for the spring when we're aiming at the big races."

Cleburne, a $310,000 purchase from the 2012 Keeneland September yearling sale by Jerry Crawford and Donegal Racing when consigned by Denali Stud, strung together back-to-back victories for Romans to punch his ticket to the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

He broke his maiden by half a length at one mile on the Ellis Park turf, then successfully transferred his form to dirt to take the Iroquois Sept. 7 by a neck over Smart Cover with a strong inside run at odds of 34-1.