Carlspur pulls through

According to owner Tom Trezza Jr., the 10-year-old pacer Carlspur p, 1:48, is recovering well from surgery at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center and may be shipped home as early as Sunday.

"They say he's doing great; he seems comfortable and is eating well," said Trezza.

On Wednesday Carlspur, recently named the 2006 Monticello Raceway Horse of the Year, was taken to the New Bolton Center where he underwent more than two hours of surgery.

Owned by Trezza and Joel Spindel, Carlspur had last raced on Tuesday, finishing sixth in a Preferred contest at Monticello.

Trezza said he received a phone call from trainer Tony Salerno last night as he was leaving the New Jersey Nets basketball game telling him that the horse had been taken to the equine hospital. It was first believed Carlspur was showing signs of colic, but when medication did not improve his condition they decided to take the horse to New Bolton.

At around midnight it was decided to perform surgery to help alleviate the obvious distress the horse was in, and it was discovered that the small colon was displaced 180 degrees and that about five feet of his small intestine was impacted. The surgery was deemed successful athough Carlspur’s racing future is uncertain.

A son of Carslbad Cam, Carlspur has 71 wins in 251 career starts. His 1:48 win last year at the Meadowlands on Hambletonian Day 2005 earned him the distinction of being the fastest 9 year old in history. This year he has seven wins and $75,983 in earnings.

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