El Areeb to begin swimming while rehabbing from injury
El Areeb, who won four consecutive races from November to February for trainer Cal Lynch, including the Grade 3 Withers and Grade 3 Jerome, will begin a new phase in his rehabilitation from a knee injury this week at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.
El Areeb was hurt during a March 30 workout at Laurel Park and later had surgery at the New Bolton Center to remove a chip and some debris from his knee, according to Lynch. He has been recuperating on a Maryland farm but will now be sent to Bruce Jackson, who will begin rebuilding El Areeb’s fitness on an Aqua-tred.
El Areeb is scheduled to be at Fair Hill for approximately 60 days and rejoin Lynch’s barn in mid-September.
Page McKenney to Mountaineer
Page McKenney is being pointed to the $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s, a 1 1/16-mile stakes at Mountaineer Park on Aug. 5, according to trainer Mary Eppler.
Page McKenney finished second to Matt King Coal in the $200,000 Mountainview at Penn National on June 3, then was sent to Nor Mar Farm in northern Maryland for two weeks of treatment in a saltwater spa and on the facility’s Aqua-tred. He had his first workout since the Mountainview last weekend.
“His heels have not been perfect since the winter,” Eppler said. “His feet were sore. Now they are perfect. Because of the Aqua-tred, I don’t think he lost any conditioning while he was there.”
◗ The Totally Thoroughbred Horse Show at Pimlico Race Course on June 25 raised nearly $7,000 for Beyond the Wire, the Thoroughbred aftercare program of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association that was founded last year.
The Totally Thoroughbred Horse Show has raised nearly $70,000 for Thoroughbred aftercare since 2012.