Talco to have surgery, miss Breeders' Cup Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. – Talco, the winner of the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita in June, will miss the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 31 after being diagnosed with a bone chip in a knee, trainer John Sadler said on Saturday.

Talco is scheduled to undergo surgery in the coming days to have the bone chip removed. Sadler said Talco is expected to resume training in the coming months for a 2016 campaign.

“The prognosis is good,” he said.

Owned by Pete and Kosta Hronis, Talco has won 5 of 17 starts and earned $543,123. Talco began his career in France and joined Sadler’s stable in mid-2014 when acquired by Hronis Racing.

Talco had his best season for Sadler this year, winning the minor Thunder Road Stakes in April before the win in the Shoemaker, which gave the French-bred colt an automatic berth in the BC Mile. More recently, Talco was second in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on turf Aug. 23 and fourth in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita on Sept. 27.

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Stellar Wind, Sadler’s star 3-year-old filly, worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 on Saturday and will have her next start in the BC Distaff at Keeneland on Oct. 30.

Sadler described Stellar Wind’s exercise as “elegant.”

Owned by Hronis Racing, Stellar Wind has won four stakes this year, including the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks in April. She was fourth as the favorite in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in May and has since won two stakes – the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita in June and the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar in August.

Stellar Wind has yet to race outside of her age group. Sadler considered starting Stellar Wind in Grade 1 races such as the Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 26 or the Spinster Stakes at Keeneland this weekend but has opted to train her up to the BC Distaff.