LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Comma to the Top, who chased the pace before finishing last in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, suffered an injured ankle, his trainer Peter Miller said.

"It appears my horse chipped his left ankle," Miller told Churchill Downs officials. "We could see it when we brought him back. I believe we’ll have Dr. [Wayne] McIlwrath from Colorado State University take it out in the next little while."

Miller said that Comma to the Top would be out of training for at least 60 days following that surgery.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Comma to the Top’s function in the Kentucky Derby is hereby expanded beyond his primary role as pacesetter. The  California-based Comma to the Top now commands attention as a legitimate candidate to win the race.

Comma to the Top had his final Derby workout on a warm, sunny Sunday morning at Hollywood Park. He went five furlongs in 1:00.40, after which trainer Peter Miller and Patrick Valenzuela exchanged high-fives.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Jockey Patrick Valenzuela will ride Santa Anita Derby runner-up Comma to the Top in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7, co-owner Gary Barber said at Hollywood Park on Saturday. The Kentucky Derby will be the first time that Valenzuela has ridden Comma to the Top.

KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail

ARCADIA, Calif. – Comma to the Top, a close second to Midnight Interlude in Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby, may run in the Kentucky Derby on May 7 after all.

Take one horse-crazy kid from Beverly Hills, throw him in the deep fryer with one of America’s glamour stables, simmer 20 years, shave head, and voila! – out pops the top money-winning trainer at the 2010 Hollywood Park fall meet, complete with a budding star poised to swing for the big money as a 3-year-old of 2011.

Piece of cake, right? Is this an easy game or what? But then, it hasn’t been quite that simple for Peter Miller, the trainer of Hollywood Futurity winner Comma to the Top for movie moguls Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, and Kevin Tsujihara.

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Grade 3 El Camino Real - Golden Gate Fields - Race 8
Est. Post Time: 7:15 p.m. Eastern - Feb. 12, 2010

Seven 3-year-olds are entered in Saturday’s 30th running of the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields, but all the attention will be on one horse: Comma to the Top.

Comma to the Top and Positive Response, the two likely favorites for Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields, each turned in five-furlong bullet works Sunday in their final preparation for the 1 1/8-mile race.

Grade 1 winner Comma to the Top had a 59.40-second drill that was the best of 28 workers at Hollywood Park.

Tapizar demolished four rivals Jan. 15 in the Sham, earning a 97 Beyer while propelled by the bias. Making his first start since Nov. 27, the Steve Asmussen trainee confirmed his status as one of the elite 3-year-olds in California even while racing greenly off the turn. Tapizar will remain at Santa Anita and aim for the Santa Anita Derby on April 9.

Comma to the Top, the winner of the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity on Dec. 18 and two other stakes at the Hollywood Park fall meeting, worked six furlongs in 1:13.60 on Wednesday at Hollywood Park.

Miller said Comma to the Top remains on schedule for the $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 12.

“We’re leaning toward that race,” Miller said. “We’ll start to tighten the screws a little bit next week.”