Stephanoatsee off Derby trail with pastern injury

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - Stephanoatsee, runner-up to Alpha in the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct on Jan. 7, is off the Triple Crown trail due to an injured pastern bone, trainer Graham Motion said Tuesday.

Stephanoatsee, a half-brother to 2011 Preakness winner Shackleford, will undergo surgery Wednesday at the New Bolton Equine Clinic in Pennsylvania.

Motion said that Stephanoatsee chipped a piece off the top of the pastern bone in his right foreleg. Dr. Dean Richardson will reattach the piece rather than remove it, Motion said.

"Dean's optimistic he could be back (training) in two months," Motion said. "If everything went smoothly he could make Saratoga. It's disappointing. I was starting to get a little excited."