Swipe to start training for summer return

BALTIMORE – Swipe, who finished second to Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist four times last year, will begin galloping next week and point for a summer campaign, most likely in New York, trainer Keith Desormeaux said Wednesday.

Swipe underwent tie-back surgery to correct a breathing problem following a sixth-place finish as the favorite in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes last month at Keeneland. He accompanied stablemate Exaggerator, the Kentucky Derby runner-up and likely second choice in the Preakness, and four other Desormeaux horses to Baltimore and will head to New York early next week.

Swipe finished second to Nyquist in four graded stakes last year, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. In the Lexington, his 3-year-old debut, Swipe encountered trouble on the first turn and was beaten 12 lengths by the winner, Collected.

Upon an endoscopic examination after the race, Swipe’s “epiglottis was not mechanically working properly,” Desormeaux said.

“They say the operation went great,” he said. “We’ll see how he sounds and how he performs in his works and his two-minute clips.”

Desormeaux said he doesn’t expect Swipe to run before Saratoga.