Palone Ranger sidelined

Palone Ranger, considered one of the top contenders for the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace, will be sidelined for the next two to three months with a heart ailment.

“He has arterial premature contractions--an extra heartbeat,” said trainer Chris Ryder. “It's something he picked up through a virus most likely. He still has it. We took him to Cornell and they spotted some swelling around the heart. We brought him back home, but we're bringing him to New Bolton [at the University of Pennsylvania] for a second opinion. The prognosis is that he'll miss from two to three months. Of course, racing at this level, you never know how they'll return. We'll just have to wait and see."

At two, Palone Ranger posted three wins and seven seconds in 14 starts and banked 385,757. This year he has two seconds in three starts for $15,712 and a career total of $401,469.

The 3-year-old son of Western Ideal – Mercy Mercy Mercy is owned by Patricia Bolte and Arthur Pronti’s Four Friends Racing Stable LLC of Jersey City, N.J., and William Perretti’s Perretti Racing Stable LLC of Cream Ridge, N.J.

The colt’s last start was the $500,000 Anthony Abbatiello New Jersey Classic on May 27 at the Meadowlands. He finished sixth in the final after a second in the prep race the prior week.

At two, he was sent off as the favorite in the $575,400 Breeders Crown for freshman pacing colts and finished sixth. He won a division of the Champlain at Mohawk in 1:51.3, his personal best, and was runner up in the finals of the $840,000 Metro at Mohawk and the $240,675 Matron at Dover Downs. (Meadowlands press release)

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