Fly So High's Injury Minor, But Enough to Miss Oaks

A relieved trainer Shug McGaughey reported Sunday that his filly Fly So High (Malibu Moon) was not seriously injured after being vanned off following a victory in the GII Davona Dale S. and he hopes to have her back on track shortly.

There were some anxious moments for McGaughey and the Phipps Stable Saturday after the 'TDN Rising Star' crossed the wire three lengths in front in what was her stakes debut. Afterward, jockey Jose Ortiz dismounted the filly and she was vanned back to the barn.

“She cooled out sound yesterday and we sent her back to Payson Park and she seems to be fine this morning,” McGaughey said Sunday. “She seems to have a tweak in her upper suspensory in her left front. We might have to give her a little time, but it wont be a problem.”

McGaughey, who also earned his 2,000th career training victory with the win, was prepared for the worst when he saw Ortiz jump off the horse.

“It was a relief,” he said. “When I got down there to her I could tell it wasn't a drastic thing. There wasn't any filling and she wasn't sore to flex and I thought she walked on the van sound. My son rode back with her and they gave her a bath, she cooled out and walked sound. I'm just relieved that it wasn't a fractured cannon bone or a sesamoid or something like that, which would have really set us back.”

Fly So High was purchased for $675,000 at Keeneland September, a rare move for the Phipps Stable which has traditionally raced almost exclusively homebreds. She broke her maiden in November at Aqueduct, followed that with an allowance win at Gulfstream and then Saturday's impressive Davona Dale performance. That win seemed to put her in the upper echelon of 3-year-old fillies, but McGaughey is not going to rush her back.

“I would think so,” he said when asked if a start in the May 4 GI Kentucky Oaks was off the table. “It's sort of like with a Derby horse. If you get one twist in your program it's about over with. But she's a big filly and time is on her side. The news isn't perfect, but it's better than the alternatives.”