Western Cyclone out of Jug

Trainer Travis Alexander told harnessracing.com Wednesday afternoon that his 3-year-old colt pacer Western Cyclone will be undergoing throat surgery in a few hours and will miss next week’s Little Brown Jug as well as all the stakes events at The Red Mile during the two-week Grand Circuit meet.

“He is going to have surgery and will be out for three weeks,” said Alexander. “I took him to Rood & Riddle and they diagnosed he had a breathing problem; it’s something like when the folds of the throat collapse, nearly completely shutting off his air. His air was going from something like 100 percent to about 20 percent in one stride.”

Western Cyclone had a freshman record of 11-5-4-1 and $310,056, finishing the year with a runner-up effort in the Breeders Crown. This year he had just one win in eight starts, that being a career-best 1:49.4 effort in the North America Cup consolation at Woodbine. Alexander said earlier that he believed a constant battle with Lyme disease as the reason for the colt’s sub-par season.

“It’s too bad because he’s going to miss the Jug and Lexington, but obviously this has been bothering him all year,” said Alexander. “This could be the main reason and the Lyme disease secondary.

“The only way to diagnosis this problem was to have the horse on a treadmill with a scope in the horse while he was going,” he continued. “(The treadmill) was cranked right up to race speed—I think we got down to about a 1:53 clip—and we also made him sprint.”

Overall, the son of Western Hanover has earnings of more than $380,000 for owners Arlene and Jules Siegel. The Siegels and Alexander do have a pair of Jugette contenders on Wednesday, Sept. 20, at Delaware, as they send out recent Nadia Lobell winner Western Gallie and third-place finisher Eternity’s Delight.

« Back