Photo:

Shamela Hanley / Eclipse Sportswire

Promising 2-year-old colt East Avenue returned to trainer Brendan Walsh’s barn at Churchill Downs on Sunday, two days after a disappointing ninth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Sent off as the 9-5 favorite, East Avenue stumbled badly leaving the gate under jockey Tyler Gaffalione, effectively ending his chances in the championship-deciding race. Despite the setback, Walsh remains optimistic about East Avenue’s potential on the road to the Kentucky Derby.

“You could hear it in the stands after it happened, everyone gasped,” Walsh said. “You think of a million scenarios before your horse loads into the gate, and that was the last thing on my mind. We were so confident in him, but we’ll just draw a line through it and move on.”

Gaffalione, who was back breezing horses for Walsh on Friday morning, echoed his confidence in East Avenue after the Breeders’ Cup misstep.

“The really good horses have a different energy about them. You feed off it,” Gaffalione said. “It was disappointing how it played out last week, but we’ll be back.”

East Avenue, a Godolphin homebred, solidified his standing as a top contender for the Kentucky Derby with his front-running win in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland in early October. Before the Breeders’ Cup, East Avenue closed as the second individual choice at 11-1 in the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool, just behind Chancer McPatrick at 9-1.