Runaway Ghost has surgery, eyes return in 2020

Runaway Ghost had been pointed to the $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque Handicap on Saturday night, but instead will sit out the rest of the year with a soft-tissue injury.

“We went for minor surgery,” trainer Todd Fincher said. “Very minor soft-tissue damage. Everything went real well.”

Runaway Ghost will be given proper time to rehab, and the intent is a return to racing during the first quarter of next year, according to Fincher.

Runaway Ghost, 4, is a winner of more than $750,000 for his breeder and owner, Joe Peacock.

◗ The Challenge Championships will be held at the Downs at Albuquerque again in 2020, the American Quarter Horse Association announced. The traveling series of major stakes is being held at Albuquerque for the first time this year, on Oct. 26.