Dak Attack has sore shin, will miss Breeders' Cup Juvenile

Dak Attack, the Ellis Park Juvenile winner, has a sore shin and will not be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, his connections said Monday.

Dak Attack joins Grade 1 Hopeful winner Sporting Chance (knee chip) as two stakes winners who will not be pointing to this year’s Juvenile, which will be run Nov. 4 at Del Mar. Coincidentally, Dak Attack and Sporting Chance ran 1-2 in a June 15 maiden race at Churchill Downs.

Dak Attack was being pointed to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 7. His spot in the race will be taken by Free Drop Billy, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga. Both Dak Attack and Free Drop Billy are owned by the Albaugh Family Stable and trained by Dale Romans.

Jason Loutsch, who partners with his father-in-law Dennis Albaugh to comprise the stable, said Dak Attack’s shin issue is minor and the colt remains in training daily at Churchill Downs. But the fear of pushing too hard on him and missing significant time and possibly derailing hopes of developing into a potential Kentucky Derby candidate next year prompted the decision to skip the Juvenile.

“He’s going to train at Churchill Downs for the next month and we’ll re-evaluate,” Loutsch said. “He’s just a little shin sore. Dale didn’t want something to come up where he’ll have to miss some time for next year. We think a lot of this colt.”

Loutsch mentioned the $400,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park on Dec. 17 as a potential spot should Dak Attack race again this year.

Dak Attack, a son of Ghostzapper, won his debut by 1 3/4 lengths over Sporting Chance. Two months later, on Aug. 20, he won the Ellis Park Juvenile by three lengths.

Free Drop Billy was being pointed to the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont, but will now be re-routed to the Breeders’ Futurity and a chance to run around two turns. Hollywood Star, a third 2-year-old prospect from these same connections, remains on schedule for the Juvenile. He will train up to that race after finishing second in the Iroquois at Churchill Downs on Sept. 16.