Bustin Stones retired due to injury

ELMONT, N.Y. - Bustin Stones, the undefeated Grade 1 winning New York-bred sprinter, has been retired due to a nagging foot injury that will prevent him from making the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Under stud plans previously announced by owner Roddy Valente, Bustin Stones will enter stud in 2009 at Dr. Jerry Bilinksi's Waldorf Farm. Valente is syndicating Bustin Stones, who will stand for a fee of $6,500.

Bustin Stones, a son of City Zip, won all six of his starts, topped by the Grade 1 Carter Handicap in April. Prior to that, he won the Grade 2 General George at Laurel as well as three restricted stakes. He banked $480,150.

Bustin Stones, trained by Bruce Levine, was entered to run in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga on July 26 but had to scratch from the race due to a bruise in his right front foot. Levine made subsequent attempts to get Bustin Stones going again, but the colt never responded the way Levine felt he needed to in order to make the BC Sprint.

Levine said he put Bustin Stones through a rigorous gallop, known as a two-minute lick, over the weekend, but found "the foot is still bugging him a little bit," he said. "I would have liked to have run him once or twice more, but it's part of the game. I don't want to hurt him."