I Want Revenge to get time off

I Want Revenge, who was scratched from the Kentucky Derby on Saturday morning, was being evaluated at the Rood and Riddle equine clinic in Lexington, Ky., on Monday, but regardless of the diagnosis, he will be given "six weeks to two months off on a farm," co-owner David Lanzman said Monday.

I Want Revenge was determined to have soreness and slight swelling in his left front ankle on Saturday morning. After consulting with trainer Jeff Mullins and veterinarians Dr. Foster Northrop and Dr. Larry Bramlage, the decision was made to scratch.

"He'll recuperate at Dr. Northrop's farm in Kentucky," Lanzman said. "There's no reason for him to go back to Southern California right now. The Travers Stakes is our main goal, with a prep in the Jim Dandy. That's assuming that all we're dealing with now is a sore ankle, which is what it looks like at this point. They haven't found anything more than that yet, but that's why he's at Rood and Riddle, to make sure."

I Want Revenge has had his best success in New York. He won the Wood Memorial and the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.

Lanzman said he knew there was a problem when he awoke Saturday morning and saw he had a missed call on his cell phone from Mullins at 4:59 a.m.

Lanzman said having to scratch the Derby favorite on the morning of the race was upsetting.

"But what kept us from being devastated is that you had a trainer and two vets saying he was capable of going out there but he could hurt himself, so that made it a no-brainer," Lanzman said. "The fact we got to make the decision ourselves made it a little easier to take. When they said running this horse could hurt him, then there was no debate."

Mullins on Sunday began a one-week suspension imposed by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, the result of Mullins giving Gato Go Win the equine cough medicine Air Power in the Aqueduct security barn prior to his scheduled start in the Bay Shore Stakes on the Wood undercard. Gato Go Win was scratched. Air Power is a legal product to use, but it is illegal to give a horse anything in the NYRA security barn.