Greyvitos recovering from surgery for knee chip

ARCADIA, Calif. – Greyvitos, the winner of stakes at Del Mar and Remington Park in the fall, recently underwent surgery to have a bone chip removed from a knee, trainer Adam Kitchingman said on Friday.

Kitchingman said Greyvitos has been given a positive prognosis. The trainer said he is hopeful Greyvitos can return to racing as early as April and run in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 5.

“We took a little chip out,” Kitchingman said. “It was pretty minor, but it had to be taken out.

“We’ll still aim for the Derby with one more race before that. It’s a step backward, but it’s not career-ending.”

Kitchingman mentioned the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park or the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland in April as possible preps for the Kentucky Derby.

“It’s all up in the air,” he said.

Owned by Triple B Farms, Greyvitos has won 2 of 4 starts and earned $306,345. By Malibu Moon, Greyvitos won for the first time in his career in the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 11 in a 19-1 upset. Greyvitos was eighth and third in maiden races in his first two starts.

In the $402,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park on Dec. 17, Greyvitos closed from third in a field of 12 to win by 2 1/4 lengths.

Kitchingman said the bone chip was found when Greyvitos returned to California from the trip to Remington Park in Oklahoma City.