Ishaq to miss four months with chip in knee

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Ishaq, the undefeated winner of the $67,500 Inaugural Stakes last month at Tampa Bay Downs, will need surgery to remove a small chip from his knee and will miss about four months of training, according to trainer Efren Loza Jr.

The injury prevented Ishaq from being entered in the $100,000 Pasco Stakes, a seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds here Saturday. Ishaq, a son of Harlan’s Holiday and a homebred for St. George Stable LLC, would have been among the favorites in the Pasco after winning the Inaugural Stakes by a neck Dec. 19 and taking a $23,000 maiden special weight race by 10 1/4 lengths in his career debut Nov. 28.

The injury was discovered after Ishaq breezed five furlongs in 1:02 at Gulfstream Park West on Jan. 1. Ishaq will recover from surgery at a farm in Ocala, Fla., before rejoining Loza’s stable.

“I’m very sad because this is a very nice horse,” Loza said.