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Saarland won't race until fall at earliest
By David Grening
Daily Racing Form


LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Saarland, who finished 10th as the co-second choice in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, came out of the race with a chip in his left front ankle and will be sidelined until fall, trainer Shug McGaughey said Sunday.

The chip was discovered Sunday morning, after radiographs were taken. Saarland was scheduled to van to Rood and Riddle, an equine clinic in Lexington, Ky., where he would have surgery "whenever they get a slot over there," McGaughey said.

McGaughey said he was somewhat relieved to find the chip, because it gave him a legitimate excuse as to why his horse didn't fire. Next-to-last entering the first turn, Saarland made a mild run to be 10th, beaten 14 lengths.

"I was pretty discouraged last night," McGaughey said. "Not that he got beat, but that he didn't run any good being that he had been doing so good."

McGaughey said that jockey John Velazquez told ham that "when he broke from the gate, he broke a little sluggish and he tried to get him in the race, but he didn't want any part of it. He made a little run to the half-mile pole, then ran pretty even after that."

McGaughey said he hoped to have Saarland back for the fall, and is hopeful the horse could return to training by the middle of July.

Blue Burner, who finished 11th, will not run in the remaining two Triple Crown races, trainer Bill Mott said. Though the horse came out well, Mott said after two mediocre efforts "we got to take a little tougher look."

It'sallinthechase, who finished 16th in the Derby, will ship to Canterbury Park on Thursday, according to groom Rusty Higgins.



Related
Saarland's Derby Diary: Conclusion

Baffert wins third Derby in six years



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