Palace Malice retired

[TouchOfGrey]

Palace Malice retiring

Palace Malice's racing career is over.

Dogwood Stable's multiple graded stakes winner, who was trained in Aiken, is being retired because of a deep bone bruise in his left hind led. Dogwood president Cot Campbell said the injury was revealed after an examination at Rood & Riddle Veterinary Hospital in Lexington, Ky., on Thursday.

The injury caused discomfort under pressure, especially on the turns. Further racing without treatment could cause the bruise to develop into a fracture.

"No more racing,' Campbell said from behind his desk Friday morning. "We are announcing his retirement. It's frustrating."

According to Campbell, the diagnosis of Dr. Larry Bramlage said Palace Malice should return to his true potential and be fully healed after 60 days of rest and treatment. That would be a sufficient amount of time for healing the problem, allowing him to potentially race as well in the future as he has in 2014, when he has established himself as one of the top contenders for being named Horse of the Year. But the injury ends the bay colt's 2014 racing campaign.

Because of Palace Malice's tremendous potential value as a breeding horse, Campbell and his partners at Dogwood have decided to go the route of retirement, looking to sell Palace Malice rather than attempting to race him again in 2015.