Horse Racing
Claire Novak 9y

Leave the Light On injures ankle

Horse Racing

Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence's Leave the Light On, winner of last fall's Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack, has been forced off the Kentucky Derby trail after suffering an ankle injury.

With 10 points, Leave the Light On is tied with five other horses for ninth on the leaderboard by points for this year's Kentucky Derby.

The son of Horse Greeley -- Lantern Glow, by Mineshaft, captured the Remsen wire to wire by a half-length over Godolphin's Frosted following a front-running maiden victory in the slop at Belmont Park, in which he won off by 4-1/2 lengths going 1-1/16 miles.

Bred in Kentucky by All Gold Racing, Leave the Light On had been working sharply at Palm Meadows training center for trainer Chad Brown, including a five-furlong drill in 1:00 4/5 on Jan. 25. It was after that work that the injury was discovered.

"He worked really well, but came out of it with some filling in right hind ankle," Brown said. "He was barely off. We took pictures and found a small fragment in his ankle. The right thing to do is go in there and remove it and stop on him. Dr. [Larry] Bramlage will perform the surgery and we expect him to be out a couple of months before getting back under tack. It hurts to have all those Derby points in the bank and let them go to waste."

Klaravich Stable purchased Leave the Light On for $210,000 at the 2014 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's April 2-year-old sale.

Brown does have another talented 3-year-old in Majestic Affair, easy winner of the seven-furlong Frank Whiteley Jr. Stakes at Laurel Park Jan. 29 following an equally easy score in the six-furlong Fred "Cappy" Capossela Stakes at Aqueduct. But the son of Majesticperfection is a small boxy-looking horse, according to Brown, and he may be limited in distance. But he did gallop out strong in the Whiteley and Brown said he will give him a chance to keep stretching out.

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