Drefong won't travel to Dubai for Golden Shaheen

ARCADIA, Calif. – Drefong, the champion sprinter of 2016, will not be sent to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen for sprinters on March 25, trainer Bob Baffert said on Thursday.

Drefong has not raced since winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint here last November and is only in light training, Baffert said.

“I’m not going to take him,” Baffert said. “I’m not breezing him, just training him.”

Drefong has not had a recorded workout since a five-furlong move Feb. 10. Owned by Charles and Susan Chu, Drefong, 4, has won 5 of 6 starts and earned $1,203,040. The colt won the Grade 1 King’s Bishop Stakes at Saratoga last summer in his stakes debut.

St. Joe Bay, a winner of consecutive graded stakes for sprinters since late December, worked five furlongs in 1:01.60 at the San Luis Rey Downs training center in San Diego County on Wednesday and is on schedule for the Golden Shaheen.

Trained by Peter Miller, St. Joe Bay won the Grade 3 Midnight Lute Stakes on Dec. 31 and the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes on Feb. 4.