Officer out with injury

, the brilliant but star-crossed 3-year-old trained by Bob Baffert, has a soft-tissue injury in a leg that will cause him to miss Saturday's $325,000 Coolmore Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, and require him to recuperate on a farm for three months, Baffert said Friday morning.

Baffert said the injury was discovered on Thursday, after Officer had a routine training gallop at Churchill Downs. "He has a suspicious-looking area," Baffert said. "Nothing is torn, but it's the kind of thing that if you go on, you've got problems."

Officer will recuperate from his tendon injury at the Bradbury, Calif., farm of his owner, Prince Ahmed Salman, who races as The Thoroughbred Corporation. "He needs 90 days," Baffert said. "He'll be all right. He'll should come back later this year. It's not career-ending."

"I'll tell you," Baffert added, "this business will keep you bi-polar. We were flying high, and then we were crushed. It's aggravating. You get your superstar back, and then all of a sudden he comes up with something."

Officer had recently returned from a brief freshening with an overpowering victory in the Zany Tactics Stakes at Santa Anita. The Lexington would have been his second start off the layoff. Last year, Officer won his first five starts, then lost three straight before going to the sidelines.

Officer was not being seriously considered for the Kentucky Derby. Baffert and Thoroughbred Corp. still will be represented in the Derby by their recent acquisition, Illinois Derby winner War Emblem.