Wise Dan may return at Saratoga after colic surgery

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Wise Dan, the reigning two-time Horse of the Year, could return to racing at Saratoga if things continue to go well for the 7-year-old gelding as he recovers from emergency colic surgery.

Trainer Charlie LoPresti said Wednesday he would consider the Aug. 9 Fourstardave Handicap as a return spot for Wise Dan but “might be more inclined” to take a more conservative route and wait for the Aug. 30 Bernard Baruch Handicap.

“I’m not really worried about it right now,” LoPresti said from his Forest Lane Farm southeast of Lexington, where Wise Dan has been in light training for about a week. “The important thing is I’ve got him back alive, healthy, with four legs, and everything going great.”

Wise Dan had been stricken by a twisted intestine when undergoing surgery May 16. LoPresti said the gelding has recovered “faster than we could have hoped” and that he recently received an excellent health report. In his most recent race, his second of the year, Wise Dan won the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on the May 3 Kentucky Derby undercard.

Wise Dan has been jogging in an indoor arena at Forest Lane and soon will be back in the LoPresti barn on the Rice Road side of the Keeneland stable area.

“We’ll get him back galloping on the training track and probably ship out to Saratoga around July 12,” said LoPresti. “I’ll probably breeze him once we get settled up there. He’s basically missed four weeks of training, but he’s the kind of horse that it doesn’t take a whole lot to get him ready. He’s pretty phenomenal that way.”

Wise Dan, bred and owned by Morton Fink, has been defeated just once in the last two years – last fall in the Shadwell Mile on Polytrack at Keeneland. His career record is 21 wins from 29 starts and earnings of $6,802,920. He was voted Horse of the Year in 2012 and 2013.