England: Gamilati has ankle surgery, out of 1000 Guineas

Gamilati, a two-time stakes winner for the Maktoum family’s Godophin racing, will miss the English 1000 Guineas this spring after having a bone chip removed from an ankle, Godolphin announced on its website earlier this week.

By Bernardini, Gamilati is expected to return to training later this spring, according to Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford. The surgery was conducted in Dubai.

Trained by Saeed bin Suroor, Gamilati won the Group 2 Cherry Hinton Stakes at Newmarket last July and the United Arab Emirates 1000 Guineas on Feb. 3, her most recent start. Godolphin intend to start two stakes winners from 2011 in the English 1000 Guineas – Lyric of Light, who won the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile, and Discourse, who won the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes.

The English 2000 and 1000 Guineas on May 5 and 6 are the first Group 1 races of the British calendar. The turf season begins in earnest on Saturday with the $159,000 Lincoln Handicap over a straightaway mile at Doncaster Racecourse.

The race drew a field of 22 runners. Eton Forever, a 5-year-old trained by Roger Varian, is expected to go favored. A gelding, Eton Forever won the Spring Mile at Doncaster last year, his only victory in four starts.