Firing Line has minor setback

ARCADIA, Calif. – Firing Line, the runner-up in the Kentucky Derby on May 2, missed four days of training last week because of a sore foot, a setback that could delay his next start, trainer Simon Callaghan said on Wednesday.

Firing Line was scheduled to work over the weekend, but the exercise was postponed. Callaghan said Firing Line could work in the coming days, and a start in the $350,000 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4 is “50-50.”

Callaghan emphasized that Firing Line’s setback was brief.

“We were kind of conservative,” he said. “He missed four days of training. Sometimes it takes a day to recover, and sometimes it takes a week. It’s much better.”

Owned by Arnold Zetcher, Firing Line was beaten a length by American Pharoah, the closest anyone has gotten to the Triple Crown winner in his five starts this year. Firing Line won the $800,000 Sunland Park Derby in March and has won 2 of 7 starts for $974,800.

Aside from the Los Alamitos Derby, Firing Line could run in the $200,000 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on July 25 or the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 2.