The most exciting young racehorse in Britain is to miss his first planned run of the new Flat season as it has emerged that Too Darn Hot has sustained what is hopefully only a mild leg injury.
The three-year-old colt, who carries the colours of Andrew Lloyd Webber, was found to have heat in a splint bone on Wednesday evening, hours after a piece of exercise.
“Unfortunately he’ll have to miss Newbury, as he’ll have a few easy days,” said Too Darn Hot’s trainer, John Gosden, in comments reported by the Racing Post. The unbeaten horse had been due to make his reappearance in the Greenham Stakes, sponsored by his owner, on Saturday.
Gosden said the plan is now for Too Darn Hot to go straight to the first Classic of the year, the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket in three weeks’ time. However, there must now be some question as to whether his prized colt will be able to race then and bookmakers reacted to the news by easing his odds to 5-4 from 11-10.
Too Darn Hot had breezed up Newmarket’s Al Bahathri gallop on Wednesday morning under Frankie Dettori, who last year described the horse as the best juvenile he had ever ridden. The Italian jockey then shared his excitement about the prospect of partnering Too Darn Hot once more, telling Sky before news of the injury broke: “He feels like he’s matured over the winter. He’s full of himself, and I’m looking forward to Saturday. He’s filled out, matured and grown a little bit – he’s developed nicely. I’m as excited as the general public about it. When you have the champion two-year-old making his first start at three, it’s very exciting.”
Too Darn Hot is also the 5-1 favourite for the Derby on 1 June. He had been a 1-3 shot for Saturday’s Greenham, with everything else at 7-1 or bigger. Richard Hannon’s Boitron, who won a Listed race at Newbury in August, is the new Greenham favourite at 5-2.
