Arazi Undergoes Arthroscopic Knee Surgery

Arazi, the winter-book favorite for next year’s Kentucky Derby, underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees Wednesday in Lexington, Ky., and although the surgeon and the colt’s co-owner were optimistic about his future, the horse’s Derby odds jumped from 8-5 to 5-2 in Las Vegas.

Larry Bramlage, a Lexington equine surgeon who operated on Arazi, removed bone chips near the top joints of both knees. The chips were causing inflammation, and spurs were forming as the result of stress.

Allen Paulson, the Malibu aerospace executive who co-owns Arazi with Sheik Mohammed al Maktoum, defense minister of the United Arab Emirates, said the 2-year-old would rest for two weeks in his stall at Paulson’s farm in Versailles, Ky. After that, he will be walked around the shed row for two weeks and then be flown back to trainer Francois Boutin in France.

When he resumes training, Arazi will embark on a schedule designed to prepare him for the Derby on May 2 at Churchill Downs, where he humbled America’s best 2-year-olds last Saturday in winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Stakes. The Juvenile was Arazi’s first outing on dirt and extended his winning streak to seven races after a loss in his first start.

In a statement, Bramlage said: “This was a good time for the surgery, since the horse was going to be rested, anyway. There is no permanent damage and this will not affect the horse’s 3-year-old campaign.”

The problem knees, which Arazi has had since before he ran his first race, probably were responsible for the horse not wanting to change lead feet in the Juvenile. In a 1 1/16-mile race, horses will usually shift weight by changing leads several times.

Boutin had said Tuesday that Arazi probably would have only one race, in Europe, before he runs in the Derby, but Paulson indicated otherwise Wednesday.

“I’d say one race in France, then one or two in the United States,” Paulson said. “We just don’t want to run him in any Mickey Mouse races; they should be designed to get him ready for the mile and a quarter he’ll have to run at Churchill Downs.”