Connie and Michael has foot abscess

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Connie and Michael, the runner-up in last month's Grade 1 Mother Goose, was scratched out of Saturday's Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga due to an abscess in her right front foot, her connections said Saturday morning.

Connie and Michael was listed as the co-second choice at 5-1 along with Acting Happy in the CCA Oaks. Devil May Care, who beat Connie and Michael by 1 1/4 lengths in the Mother Goose, is the morning-line favorite.

According to trainer Dominick Schettino, the abscess was discovered Friday and it has begun to pop, but has not totally done so. Schettino said Connie and Michael will be out of training for a few days. Owner Anthony Bonomo Sr., who races under the moniker Brooklyn Boyz Stables, thought his filly was going to run a big race in the Coaching Club.

"She was ready," Bonomo said. "No doubt she would have been in the thick of things. She was in the best shape of her life absent this little hoof thing. In racing it's better to have minor inconveniences than major disappointments."

Bonomo said he was hopeful Connie and Michael could be ready to run in the Grade 1 Alabama here on Aug. 21.

* Lisa's Booby Trap, who is based at Finger Lakes, also scratched from the CCA Oaks, reducing the field for the 1 1/8-mile race to six.