Santa Anita: Points Offthebench injured, out of Echo Eddie

ARCADIA, Calif. – A spring campaign by the promising California-bred 3-year-old Points Offthebench has ended early. The gelding sustained a non-displaced condylar fracture of his left front in a March 3 workout at Santa Anita, sidelining him before his second start of the season as a favorite in the $200,000 Echo Eddie Stakes on March 31.

Tim Yakteen trains Points Offthebench, full brother to stakes-winning 4-year-old gelding Bench Points. Points Offthebench scored a highly rated (87 Beyer) comeback win Feb. 17 in a statebred allowance; he was injured in his first work since the race.

Yakteen said the gelding had two screws inserted into the break during surgery Monday, and the prognosis for a full recovery is positive. Yakteen said Points Offthebench will be out of training for four months. He has won 2 of 3 starts.

Meanwhile, Bench Points was scheduled for his first comeback workout for Yakteen on Friday as he prepares for a spring-summer campaign. Bench Points has won five races and $290,280 from nine starts, including a win in the the Grade 3 Laz Barrera as a 3-year-old in May 2011 and in the Graduation and I’m Smokin Stakes for California-bred 2-year-olds in 2010.