Belmont Park: Lovely Syn breaks down, to have surgery

ELMONT, N.Y. - Lovely Syn, the undefeated New York-bred 3-year-old filly, fractured a sesamoid bone in her left foreleg during a workout Saturday morning at Belmont Park, trainer Dominick Schettino said.

While Lovely Syn's racing career is finished, she was shipped to the New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania on Saturday and was scheduled to undergo surgery on Sunday in hopes of being saved as a broodmare prospect.

According to Schettino, Lovely Syn had just started a four-furlong workout over the main track when she took a bad step and was immediately pulled up by jockey Javier Castellano. Lovely Syn was working for a probable start in next Saturday's Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes.

Lovely Syn was vanned off and taken back to the barn, where X-rays revealed the injury.

Lovely Syn, a daughter of Freud bred and owned by the Joemar Racing Stables of Michael Parisi, had won the first four starts of her career by a combined 28 3/4 lengths. In a four-week period, she won two stakes - a 9 1/2-length score in the New York Stallion Stakes on May 5 and a 10 1/4-length victory in the $122,000 Bouwerie Stakes, restricted to New York-breds, here on June 1.

"There was no telling how good she was," said a devastated Schettino.

The Parisi family has had more success in the Standardbred game than with Thoroughbreds. In an interview with Daily Racing Form following the Bouwerie Stakes, Michael Parisi said, "I'm just enjoying the ride with her. I never had a horse at this level."

Lovely Syn was the third foal out of the dam Lemon Drop's Love. The other two, Lemon Tiger and Mightylover, were also multiple winners.