Inglewood, CA -- (Sports Network) - Heatseeker, the leading handicap horse on the West Coast, has been retired from racing. The announcement was made Monday three days after the five-year-old was discovered to have a swollen left front ankle.

Owned by William de Burgh, Heatseeker was scratched from last Saturday's $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup in which he was the 7-5 morning-line favorite. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer originally thought the five-year-old would recover enough to race again.

"I don't believe it's serious but we're not going to take a chance with so many more big races this year," Hollendorfer said last Friday. "You've always got to do what's right for the horse. It's not fun when these things happen, but it's part of the game. What are you going to do? We did our best every day."

In a 17 race career Heatseeker won seven times for nearly $1.8 million. He won his last start in the Californian at Hollywood Park in May which followed a second place finish to Tiago in the Oaklawn Handicap. He won the Santa Anita Handicap in March, following a second place finish in the San Antonio Handicap.

Heatseekers future as a stallion has not been finalized.