HOLLYWOOD PARK / QUARTER HORSE RACING : Corona Chick Will Be Sidelined Until Spring

Corona Chick, the 3-year-old filly whose 13-race winning streak was broken by Royal Trips in Saturday’s Southern California Derby at Hollywood Park, will be sidelined until next spring because of a tendon injury in her left front leg, trainer Frank Monteleone said Monday.

Corona Chick has about a four-inch tear in the tendon that will require several months of rest, Monteleone said.

He added that he noticed the injury six weeks ago and had been monitoring it. The filly underwent an ultrasound exam Monday morning.

“It’s not career ending, but you won’t see her until April,” Monteleone said of Corona Chick. “(Veterinarian) Nancy Goodman said it’s amazing that she ran as good as she did (on Saturday).”

Corona Chick’s 13-race winning streak ended Saturday when Royal Trips, a 123-1 shot, beat her by a head. It was Corona Chick’s first defeat since July 14, 1991, when she ran fifth in the Bay Meadows Futurity.

If she had won the derby, she would have tied the quarter horse record for consecutive victories. In her last victory, a division of the Southern California Derby trials, she beat Royal Trips by four lengths.

“The leg looked funny (Sunday),” Monteleone said. “She hasn’t had the (speed) at the end like she had in the past. We were looking for something (wrong). Nancy said she may come back as good as she raced at 2. It could have been worse, a broken bone or something.”

The 13-race winning streak included eight victories in 1991 and five this year. Last year, Corona Chick won the Governor’s Cup, the Ed Burke, Kindergarten and Dash For Cash futurities, and was voted champion 2-year-old.

She underwent routine knee surgery in January and was sidelined until mid-July this year. Her only stakes victory was the Governor’s Cup Derby on Aug. 8.

“I’ll never have (another horse) that good,” Monteleone said. “We knew we’d lose (eventually), but we didn’t want to lose.”

Monteleone said that Corona Chick will remain at the race track for two months before being shipped to her winter home at the Pegasus stock farm in Murrietta. If all goes well, she should be back in training by March, and running at Los Alamitos next spring and summer.

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In the Southern California Derby, Corona Chick didn’t break as well as she had in the past, but still had a narrow lead at both stretch calls. In the last 50 yards, Royal Trips, ridden by Joe Meier, passed Corona Chick to win by a head.

“As long as you’re in the final, you have a shot, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I could beat her,” said Laura Pinelli, Royal Trips’ trainer. “You began to believe (Corona Chick) can’t be beaten, but when you qualify for (a final), you always go in there with the idea you can win the race.”

Royal Trips was bred by owner Abigail Kawananakoa of Honolulu, who has a breeding farm in Nuevo, Calif. Before the Southern California Derby, the gelding was winless in four starts this year. He ran twice in January, finishing ninth in the El Primero Del Ano Derby, then was sidelined until August, when he was fifth in an allowance at Los Alamitos and fifth in the Southern California Derby trials.

“I kept my head down riding, but two jumps past the wire I thought there was a good chance I’d won it,” Meier said. “You hate to see a filly like her get beat when they’re that close to making history. It hasn’t sunk in that I’ve won the race and beat Corona Chick.”

Kawananakoa, who was on a fishing holiday in Oregon, did not attend the race, but was notified of the victory shortly afterward by Pinelli. The Southern California Derby concluded a big week for Kawananakoa. She also bred Royal Down Dash, who finished fifth in the All American Futurity on Monday at Ruidoso Downs in Ruidoso, N.M.

Kawananakoa also owns Pip Pip, a 2-year-old filly who has won three of four starts. She considered returning to California for the derby, but decided to stay in Oregon.

“I asked Joe, ‘Did you think we’d have that kind of a chance?’ And he said that (Royal Trips) had been feeling really good,” Kawananakoa said. “Laura said, ‘Come down and see him run,’ but I thought, ‘Why watch Corona Chick beat him?’ ”