Taris out for first half of 2015 with ankle injury

ARCADIA, Calif. – Taris, purchased for $2.35 million in November, will be sidelined until the second half of 2015 after injuring an ankle during a second-place finish Friday in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita.

On Saturday, trainer Simon Callaghan said the injury was diagnosed in the hours after the La Brea, adding Taris will undergo surgery Monday to stabilize her right front ankle. Callaghan described the injury as a non-displaced condylar fracture that will require the insertion of screws to repair the break.

Taris, 3, will be sent to Ashford Stud in Kentucky in early January for recovery and is expected to resume training in the summer, Callaghan said.

“The prognosis is good for the long term,” he said. “We plan to have her back in training for the summer, and hopefully we can have a good second half of the season. The Breeders’ Cup will be the goal. It’s sort of a clean break. It should heal very well. My vets and the [Ashford] vets have looked at the X-rays.”

Taris, by Flatter, races for Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor, who bought her at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Sale in November.

In the $301,000 La Brea Stakes, Taris, the 7-10 favorite, set a quick pace and led by 3 1/2 lengths with a furlong to go before losing by a half-length to the 12-1 outsider Sam’s Sister.

Taris has won 4 of 6 starts and earned $335,700. She won the Wide Country Stakes over seven furlongs at Laurel in January in her second start and the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes by nine lengths at Keeneland on Oct. 18, weeks before she was sold at auction.