[h=2]Dwyer winner Speightster out for rest of the year[/h]SPEIGHTSTER, the undefeated 3-year-old who beat TEXAS RED in the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park on July 4, will be sidelined the remainder of his 3-year-old season after having a chip removed from his right front ankle, Elliot Walden, president and CEO of WinStar Farm said Sunday.
Speightster, trained by Bill Mott for WinStar, was being pointed to the Grade 1 King’s Bishop here on Aug. 29.
Walden said that Speightster would return next year with the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park as the mid-year objective.
“It’s unfortunate,” Walden said. “But sometimes your bad luck is your good luck.”
Speightster, a son of Speightstown, won his first three races by a combined 13 lengths. He won his debut at Keeneland by seven on April 17 and then took a first-level allowance race by 3 1-2 lengths at Belmont on June 5.
He stepped up into graded company in the Dwyer, a race he won on the front end by 2 1-2 lengths over Texas Red, who came back to win Saturday’s Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga. SMART TRANSITION, fourth in the Dwyer, came back to win Friday’s Curlin Stakes at Saratoga.