Big Chief Racing, James Justice and Billy Shelton's Swipe (Birdstone), runner-up in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, underwent throat surgery following his sixth-place finish in the Apr. 16 GIII Lexington S.
“He had tie-back surgery,” trainer Keith Desormeaux confirmed Sunday. “He'll be out 30 days.”
Swipe broke his maiden in the Summer Juvenile Championship S. last July. He was second behind Nyquist (Uncle Mo) in the GII Best Pal S., GI Del Mar Futurity and GI FrontRunner S. before concluding his 2-year-old campaign with another runner-up effort behind the subsequent juvenile champion in the Breeders' Cup.
The colt, who had surgery to remove a chip in his left ankle over the winter, returned to action as the 2-1 favorite in the Lexington, but finished 12 lengths adrift of Collected (City Zip).
On the board in seven of eight starts to date, Swipe has one win and earnings of $608,930.
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