Knee Surgery Knocks Meteoric Off Track

Meteoric, one of the best 2-year-olds in the country in 2002, will be sidelined for several months after undergoing knee surgery Friday morning.

Owned by Dutch Masters III and trained by Lin Melton, Meteoric, who was second in the Los Alamitos Million and third in the All American Futurity, had bone chips removed from his right knee.

Meanwhile, Sign Of Lanty, who completed another big year with a win in last month’s Marathon National, will run as a 9-year-old and could make his 2003 debut in the Moonshiner Handicap on Feb. 1.

The two-time distance champion won the Moonshiner last year.

If Sign Of Lanty, owned by Jackie and Rod Macpherson and trained by John Cooper, is able to win two more stakes, he will tie the record of 18 stakes victories at Los Alamitos shared by Charger Bar and Kaweah Bar.

“The Moonshiner is a strong possibility,” said Cooper. “You can’t really give an older horse like Sign Of Lanty too much time off. You have to keep them busy.”

The picks: 1. Master Cowboy Jazz. 2. Fat Tuesday. 3. Dutch Coin. 4. L.B. Down. 5. Ib Quick Chick. 6. Live Withit Willie. 7. The Triple Crown. 8. Splash For Glory. 9. Beda Believe It.

Four! Single Master Cowboy Jazz in the first, use Head Fake, Slamat and Fat Tuesday in the second, Dutch Coin, Thru Grace and A Desert Secret in the third and Casual Smile, L.B. Down and Ashdown’s Dream in the fourth.

Shots in the dark: Heseters Better Deal takes a drop in class in the fifth. Keepa Dat Cash tries a new distance in the eighth for trainer Charlie Bloomquist.

Post time: 5:30 p.m.

On the Net: For entries and results from Los Alamitos, visit: www.latimes.com/horseracing/