Algorithms off the Kentucky Derby trail, will have surgery

Algorithms will have surgery for a fractured splint bone in his right front leg and will miss the Triple Crown, trainer Todd Pletcher and co-owner Jack Wolf said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.

The news ended a whirlwind 48-hour period for Algorithms, who on Sunday was scheduled to run in the Fountain of Youth Stakes but was scratched that morning from the race because of a problem with the splint. Subsequent radiographs revealed the extent of the damage.

Earlier on Tuesday, it was announced Algorithms was not to be among the 23 individual betting interests for Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which will be offered this weekend. Algorithms closed at 12-1 in Pool 1, the second choice among individual horses, behind only Union Rags, who was 7-1.

According to the press release, Algorithms was to ship Wednesday morning from the Palm Meadows training center in south Florida to Ocala, Fla., where Dr. John Madison of the Ocala Equine Hospital will perform the surgery.

“We are hoping that he only requires a minimal amount of time off, but he is definitely not going to make the Triple Crown,” Pletcher said.

“It is very disappointing that he will have to miss the spring classics, but we look forward to having him back in late summer or early fall,” said Wolf, whose Starlight Racing partnership owns Algorithms. “This really is the best long-term option for Algorithms.”

Algorithms has won all three of his starts, including the Holy Bull Stakes earlier this meet at Gulfstream Park. He was chosen for the Fountain of Youth by jockey Javier Castellano over Union Rags, a colt Castellano also had been riding. Julien Leparoux picked up the mount on Union Rags.

Algorithms, a son of Bernardini, was purchased by Starlight as a yearling for $170,000 at the Keeneland September sale. He defeated maidens in his debut at Belmont Park in June, then returned in December to win a first-level allowance at Gulfstream prior to the Holy Bull.