A Little Warm withdrawn from Keeneland sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The late Edward P. Evans’s Jim Dandy winner A Little Warm has been withdrawn from Keeneland’s upcoming January all-ages sale as he continues his recovery from ankle surgery.

The 4-year-old Stormin Fever colt was cataloged as Hip No. 1469 in the Lane’s End consignment.

Chris Baker, the racing and farm manager at Evans’s Spring Hill Farm in Virginia, said veterinarians had advised the farm that the 4-year-old Stormin Fever colt “needs a little more time.” A Little Warm underwent surgery in late October to insert two screws in his left front fetlock and three screws in his right front fetlock. He sustained condylar fractures to both forelegs during a routine gallop at Delaware Park.

“Shipping him to the sale wasn’t the right thing for the horse,” Baker said, adding that the farm will entertain private offers for A Little Warm as a stallion prospect. “He should be in good order to breed mares at the beginning of the breeding season.”

Breeding season traditionally opens in mid-February. Baker added that if the farm does not sell him before breeding season, Spring Hill probably will enter A Little Warm in the 2011 November breeding stock sales.

A Little Warm was being pointed for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile when he was injured. He won four of 11 career starts, including the Jim Dandy and the Spectacular Bid Stakes. He also finished second four times, including runner-up finishes in the Hutcheson and Louisiana Derby, both Grade 2, and was third in the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby. He earned $752,280.

A Little Warm is out of the Grade 3-winning Alydar mare Minidar.