Crown Of Thorns Injured; Off Derby Trail

Robert B. Lewis S. (G2) winner CROWN OF THORNS (Repent), a leading contender for the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1), has suffered an injury to his left front leg and will miss all three Triple Crown races, trainer Richard Mandella told The Blood-Horse.

"The shin is sore and it shows the beginning of a little stress fracture, so we had to stop on him," Mandella said. "This is extremely disappointing because he was the perfect Derby horse."

Mandella said the injury would sideline Crown of Thorns for several months. The colt was pointing toward the Sham S. (G3) on March 1 at Santa Anita.

Owned by B. Wayne Hughes, Crown of Thorns drew off to a 2 1/2-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Robert B. Lewis on February 2 after breaking his maiden by a resounding seven lengths on Santa Anita's Cushion Track on New Year's Day.

Crown of Thorns has a record of 3-2-0-0, $149,640. He is out of Crowning Touch (Thunder Gulch), a half-sister to champion sprinter Smoke Glacken (Two Punch), Grade 2 vixen Smokey Glacken (Forestry) and the Grade 3-placed stakes winner Capote's Crown (Capote).

The Florida-bred sold for $300,000 at the 2007 OBS March Two-Year-Olds in Training sale.