Awesome Humor sidelined

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Awesome Humor, the third choice in the on the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, was withdrawn from the pool and will undergo season-ending surgery to remove a bone chip in her right front ankle.

Owned by WinStar Farm and trained by Elliot Walden, Awesome Humor rose to the top of the East Coast 2-year-old filly division with a 2 3/4-length win in the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga. She also won the Grade 2 Adirondack and, while still trained by Ronnie Werner, the Grade 3 Debutante at Churchill.

But on Saturday, Walden and the filly's owners made the decision to curtail her campaign and perform surgery. At about noon Walden telephoned Frank Gabriel, Arlington's vice president of racing and operations, to inform him of the decision. Arlington serves as the hub for the futures bet, and Gabriel relayed the information to Breeders' Cup officials. Awesome Humor was withdrawn from the pool about 12:30 p.m. Central.

Walden said Awesome Humor had a "little chip" and that he expected her surgery to be "routine."

"We've got plenty of time for the 3-year-old classic races," Walden said. "She's a big, strong filly that probably should go two turns. But it is disappointing we didn't get to finish what we started this year."

As of mid-afternoon Saturday, Storm Flag Flying was an overwhelming favorite in the Juvenile Fillies pool, though her earlier odds of 1-9 had drifted up to 1-5.

Vindication was a 5-2 favorite in the Juvenile, with Sky Mesa at 5-1 and Whywhywhy at 7-1.