Rylstone out of stakes; to undergo surgery for chip
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Rylstone, who was expected to be a top contender in Saturday's $75,000 Southwest at Oaklawn Park, will miss the race after being diagnosed with a bone chip in his left knee following his final workout for the race last Saturday.
He is scheduled to undergo surgery to remove the chip Tuesday, and is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks, said trainer Lynn Whiting.
Rylstone, a son of Mecke, won his maiden in the $75,000 Manila Stakes on turf last October at Arlington Park. In his most recent start, he won an entry-level allowance on turf at Fair Grounds, and to date has won two of six starts and $73,430. He races for Choctaw Racing Stable.
Choctaw and Whiting will still be represented in the Southwest. The race will be run in two divisions, and the owner-trainer team will have Cope With an Image in the second division. In the first division, Whiting will send out Missme for owner Whippoorwill Farm.
Bringem Jung makes local bow
Choctaw and Whiting will have another 3-year-old racing on the undercard Saturday. Bringem Jung, a recent private purchase, makes his local bow after running fourth last out in the Grade 3, $100,000 San Miguel at Santa Anita on Jan. 13.
He will race six furlongs Saturday, but is a candidate to stretch out around two turns later this meet, Whiting said.
"We felt like he was a horse that would fit here, hopefully in the stakes program," said Whiting, "one that we could ship around a little this summer."
Whiting had great success selecting young horses of racing age for one of his chief clients, the late Cal Partee. One of their greatest success stories was Lil E. Tee, who was purchased after his second career start and went on to win the Kentucky Derby.
Other successful purchases by Whiting and Partee include Phantom on Tour, who went on to win the Grade 3 Rebel and Grade 3 New Orleans Handicap; Big Pistol, who won the Grade 1 Haskell; Pineing Patty, who captured the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby; and At the Threshold, a two-time Grade 1 winner and the sire of Lil E. Tee.
"I think we played a role in establishing the trend to buy these proven young horses because of some of the success we had with Lil E. Tee," said Whiting. "Prior to that, I think people felt like they couldn't purchase that type of horse, that they had to come by them through other means, be it sales and/or breed them."
* Beau's Town, who won his fourth consecutive race Wednesday when he powered to a three-length win in a conditioned allowance, will step into stakes company here for his next start in either the $50,000 Hot Springs Stakes on March 29, or the Grade 3, $150,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on April 11.
"He'll go in one of those two. It won't be both," said owner Dave Hulkewicz, who wants to continue to generously space the colt's races. "It's a long year."