Firing Line eyes early 2016 return

DEL MAR, Calif. – Firing Line, second to American Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2, underwent surgery this summer to have a bone chip removed from an ankle and is scheduled to return to trainer Simon Callaghan’s stable in October.

Callaghan said on Friday that Firing Line remains at a farm in Kentucky, where he has been based since early July. There is hope that Firing Line can return to racing in early 2016 and play a leading role in the older horse division in California.

Callaghan described the bone chip as a “flake.”

Owned by Arnold Zetcher, Firing Line has won 2 of 7 starts and earned $974,800. By Line of David, Firing Line finished seventh in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico behind American Pharoah on May 16. Earlier this year, Firing Line won the Grade 3 Sunland Park Derby in New Mexico, his final start before the Kentucky Derby.