BC Countdown - Classic: Repent out of BC Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Repent, the Travers Stakes runner-up who was regarded as a contender for the Oct. 26 Breeders' Cup Classic, has been diagnosed with a minor tendon strain and will be forced to miss the race, trainer Ken McPeek said Thursday.

McPeek said Repent, a 3-year-old colt owned by the Select Stable of Jerry and Feye Bach, will be sidelined for about 90 days but will race again next year. McPeek said he had been closely monitoring Repent's left foreleg in recent days before a Thursday examination by veterinarian Dr. Foster Northrup revealed slight damage in his tendon.

"It's really nothing serious, but obviously it's something that will prevent us from working or running him," said McPeek.

Repent, a $1.2-million earner based at Churchill Downs, returned from a 4 1/2-month layoff with a sensational runner-up finish behind Medaglia d'Oro in the Aug. 24 Travers at Saratoga. After that, he was the 8-5 favorite in the Sept. 28 Jockey Club Gold Cup, in which he finished a disappointing seventh. Repent was No. 7 in the latest Daily Racing Form rankings for the $4 million Classic.

The tendon injury is the second untimely setback this year for Repent, a Louis Quatorze colt who in early April was regarded as one of the favorites for the Kentucky Derby. But shortly after finishing a distant second to eventual Derby winner War Emblem in the April 6 Illinois Derby, McPeek announced that Repent would miss the Derby because of a chip in his left front ankle.