Ballerina d'Oro won't run in Rachel Alexandra

The 3-year-old filly Ballerina d’Oro won’t start Saturday at Fair Grounds in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes. Her trainer, Chad Brown, said Ballerina d’Oro developed a fever shortly before she was to have shipped from the Payson Park training center in Florida earlier this week.

Ballerina d’Oro would have been one of the three leading contenders in the Rachel Alexandra, a key Kentucky Oaks prep, along with Good Cheer and Simply Joking. After making her first three starts on dirt, Ballerina d'Oro switched to dirt for the Demoiselle Stakes on Dec. 7 at Aqueduct. Racing in blinkers for the first time, she turned in a peak performance, displaying a sharp turn of foot that propelled her to a second-place finish behind the highly regarded Brad Cox-trained filly Muhimma.

“It’s really disappointing. That filly was going to be the key to my weekend,” Brown said of Ballerina d'Oro. “She was training unbelievable. Her last three works have been exceptional.”

Brown said Ballerina d’Oro's connections won’t form an alternative plan for her until she resumes training. Brown still has Unit Economics entered in the Fair Grounds Stakes and Septarian in the Risen Star Stakes on Saturday.

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