El Deal to miss BC Sprint with suspensory injury

ELMONT, N.Y. – El Deal, winner of the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga and runner-up in the Grade 1 Vosburgh at Belmont Park, will miss the Breeders’ Cup Sprint due to a lesion in the suspensory of his left foreleg, trainer Jorge Navarro said Friday.

Navarro said El Deal didn’t come out of an Oct. 14 workout at Monmouth Park the way he would have liked and after several tests, the lesion was found. Navarro said it’s not a major issue, but he wasn’t going to take a chance of running him in the Breeders’ Cup.

“For us to go in the Breeders’ Cup, I believe we have to be 150 percent,” Navarro said. “I don’t think my horse is ready for it. I believe with the right time [off], he’ll come back really good.”

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In addition to his eight-length victory in the Vanderbilt, El Deal won the Decathlon Stakes at Monmouth Park. In his most recent start, he was run down by Takaful in the Vosburgh, finishing one length back in second.

Navarro will still have two runners in this year’s Breeders’ Cup – Sharp Azteca in the Dirt Mile and War Story in the Turf. Both horses were scheduled to work at Monmouth Park over the weekend and ship to Del Mar on Tuesday.

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