F&M Turf: Rosinka out with ankle chip

Rosinka, a Saratoga stakes winner who was third in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational at Belmont Park on Sept. 29, will miss the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf because of a bone chip in an ankle, trainer Graham Motion said on Wednesday.

Motion said Rosinka was scheduled to be taken to a clinic near his Maryland base on Thursday for further evaluation.

"It would be something that she did in her last race," he said. "Once I started galloping her, the ankle flared up."

Owned by Alistair McDonald Buchanan, Rosinka won three stakes this year, including the Grade 3 Glens Falls Handicap at Saratoga.

To start in the BC Filly and Mare Turf at 1 3/8 miles on grass, Rosinka would have had to have been supplemented for $180,000.

"It's better to discover it this week than next week after we put up the money," Motion said.

The expected field for the Filly and Mare Turf is led by Nashoba's Key, the undefeated winner of seven races, including the Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon Stakes at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting on Sept. 29. Trained by Carla Gaines, Nashoba's Key has been installed as the 7-2 favorite in early betting by English bookmakers.

Three fillies and mares that have earned automatic berths by winning major stakes are considered probable starters - My Typhoon (Diana Handicap), Royal Highness (Beverly D. Stakes), and Vacare (First Lady Stakes). Other leading candidates are Danzon, Honey Ryder, Lahudood, and Wait a While.

Trainer Bobby Frankel said he was unsure whether four-time graded stakes winner Citronnade or Precious Kitten, the runner-up to Vacare in the First Lady Stakes, would be pre-entered next week, but guessed that owner Ken Ramsey would pre-enter Precious Kitten.

Lahudood, who would have to be supplemented for $180,000, is on course for the race, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said on Wednesday.

Three fillies from Europe are likely - Passage of Time, Simply Perfect, and Timarwa. Passage of Time was third in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille in France on Sept. 16, her first start since returning from a throat abscess. Simply Perfect won the Group 1 Falmouth in England in July, but was fourth in the Group 1 Sun Chariot at Newmarket last Saturday. Timarwa won the Group 3 Landawes Stud Fillies in Ireland on Oct. 5.