Robert LaPenta’s Dialed In , winner of this year’s Florida Derby (gr. I), will have surgery next week on a chip in his right knee and will be taken out of training for a undetermined period of time, according to trainer Nick Zito.
“Dialed In will be out of training for awhile,” Zito said in a June 24 release. “He has a chip in the right knee. We noticed there was something different with the knee. Dr. Migliacci took some pictures, X-rays, on the 25th of May, which was after the Preakness and there was no problem, but there is now.
“Dr. Bramlage will do the surgery next week and he will be back in training soon. Bob LaPenta and I, and all my staff, were looking forward to the Travers. Unfortunately, that will not happen. I am grateful that he was the favorite in the Kentucky Derby and ran in the Preakness for the $5 million bonus. But I am disappointed, along with Bob, that he did not get a fair chance in those races. Hopefully as a 4-year-old he will get back to where he belongs.”
Dialed In, by Mineshaft out of the Storm Cat mare Miss Doolittle, is 3-1-0 from six starts with earnings of $939,206. He finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) as the 5-1 choice and then fourth in the Preakness (gr. I). Earlier in the year, he scored the Holy Bull (gr. III).