Darley alters plans with top juveniles

Coronet of a Baron and Desert Party are out and Regal Ransom is in the Grade 1, $250,000 Norfolk Stakes at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita on Sunday, as late developments have caused Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum's Darley Stable to shuffle its lineup for upcoming juvenile stakes.

According to Jim Bell, president of Darley USA, Desert Party, winner of the Grade 2 Sanford Stakes, was found to have "a minor amount of swelling in his left foreleg" on Monday and will be out of training for an undetermined amount of time.

"We will probably err on the side of being conservative," Bell said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Bell said that Coronet of a Baron needs more time to recover from his nose loss to Midshipman in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 3.

"He ran very, very hard in the Del Mar Futurity," said Bell, "We feel he needs a little more time."

Coronet of a Baron will likely train up to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Oct. 25.

Regal Ransom, who won a maiden race by three-quarters of a length at Saratoga on Aug. 25, was being pointed to the Lane's End Breeders' Futurity on Oct. 4. But on Monday the decision was made to ship him to California.

Darley and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin will still have Majestic Blue to run in the Lane's End.

"It's actually a plus," said McLaughlin, trainer of Regal Ransom. "We get a month back to the Breeders' Cup instead of three weeks . . . and we'll get to see if he likes the true Santa Anita synthetic track, not just Keeneland's."