Liora to miss about four months after leg surgery

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Liora, the runner-up to Serengeti Empress in the Kentucky Oaks on May 3, underwent surgery Tuesday at the Rood and Riddle equine clinic in Lexington, Ky., to repair an injury to her right hind leg sustained in a routine gallop this week at Churchill Downs.

“She came back lame from her gallop,” said Wayne Catalano, who trains Liora for the Coffeepot Stables of Bob Cummings and Annette Bacola. Her surgeon, Dr. Larry Bramlage, “said everything went well, and he’s thinking she’ll be out maybe four months or so,” added Catalano. “It’s not the kind of thing that’s career-ending.”

Liora, a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred by Candy Ride, won the Grade 2 Golden Rod here last fall at 27-1. She has three seconds from four starts this year, all in stakes, with the latest coming at 38-1 in the Kentucky Oaks.

Catalano had been pointing Liora to a rematch with Serengeti Empress in the Grade 1 Acorn on June 8 at Belmont Park. “It’s a shame because she’d become the best horse in the barn,” he said. “We’ll live to fight another day.”