Cloud Computing sidelined by ankle chip
ELMONT,N.Y. – Cloud Computing, the Preakness winner, will be sidelined the remainder of the year due to a chip in a front ankle, trainer Chad Brown said Thursday morning.
Cloud Computing had the chip surgically removed by Dr. Larry Bramlage earlier this week. The horse will recuperate at Dell Ridge Farm in Kentucky before joining Brown’s stable in south Florida this winter to prepare for a 4-year-old campaign.
The chip was discovered after Cloud Computing worked a half-mile in 48.68 seconds last Saturday at Belmont Park.
“Unfortunately, Cloud Computing came out of his last work with a chip in his ankle,” Brown said. “He had surgery with Dr. Bramlage; everything went great. He’ll need a couple of months and we’ll point to his 4-year-old year.”
Cloud Computing, owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence, went 2 for 6 as a 3-year-old, winning his maiden at first asking over Aqueduct’s inner track in February. After finishing second in the Grade 3 Gotham and third in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial, Cloud Computing ran down Classic Empire to win the Preakness by a head.
This summer, at Saratoga, Cloud Computing finished last of five in the Jim Dandy and eighth of 12 in the Travers.
Cloud Computing joins Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit on the sidelines. Always Dreaming, who finished ninth in the Travers, is getting a break at WinStar Farm. His connections have yet to officially announce whether he will be retired or run next year. Tapwrit came out of a fourth-place finish in the Travers with a foot injury. He is at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala, Fla., and will be brought back to run next year.