Kobe's Back will sit out rest of year, return in 2017

DEL MAR, Calif. - Kobe’s Back, the five-time stakes winner, has been turned out for the rest of the summer and will resume racing in 2017, trainer Peter Eurton said over the weekend.

Eurton said Kobe’s Back has been dealing with minor ailments and will not need surgery. The setback will prevent Kobe’s Back from starting in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.

“We’ll give him a little freshening and a couple of months off,” Eurton said. “He’s got a few minor issues, a little body soreness.”

Owned by Lee and Susan Searing, Kobe’s Back, 5, has won 5 of 20 starts and has earned $1,036,250. Kobe’s Back won two Grade 2 stakes at Santa Anita earlier this year – the Palos Verdes Stakes at six furlongs and the San Carlos Stakes at seven furlongs. He was third in his next two starts – the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Stakes on May 7 and the Grade 1 Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita on June 25.

The same sort of races will be a target in 2017, Eurton said.

“He’ll be a 6-year-old and a horse to be reckoned with,” he said.

DESORMEAUX SUSPENSION
Jockey Kent Desormeaux will serve a three-day suspension this week for causing interference in a sprint last Thursday.

Desormeaux will miss racing from Thursday through Saturday in the upcoming week, but will be allowed to ride in Saturday’s Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-old sprinters, if he gains a mount. The Best Pal Stakes is a designated race exempt from routine suspensions.
Desormeaux was cited for his ride on Captain Akers, who was disqualified from first to sixth for causing interference to a rival in early stretch of the third race last Thursday.