Fees will keep Lahaleeb out of Breeders' Cup

Lahaleeb is out and Red Rocks is in as European trainers continue to jockey for Breeders' Cup positions.

Michael Channon said on Tuesday that his E.P. Taylor winner Lahaleeb would not run in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf expressly because of the $180,000 in fees required of owners Mohammed al Qatamiand and Khalid al Mudhaf because the horse is not nominated to the Cup.

Although Lahaleeb earned a guaranteed spot in the Filly and Mare Turf through her E.P. Taylor victory, Channon expressed skepticism about the Breeders' Cup Win and You're In program, noting the prohibitive fees for horses not nominated to the Cup.

"In that sense," he said, "Win and You're In is a bit misleading."

Instead, Lahaleeb is likely to travel to Sha Tin for the Hong Kong Cup on Dec. 13. That 1 1/4-mile race has free nominations. Moreover, the Hong Kong Jockey Club picks up the housing and transportation costs of all invited horses and their connections.Instead, Lahaleeb is likely to travel to Sha Tin for the Hong Kong Cup on Dec. 13.

Winner of the 2006 Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs, Red Rocks returned from a six-month absence on Sept. 27 at Ascot with a fourth-place finish in the 1 1/2-mile, Group 3 Cumberland Lodge Stakes. Winless since beating Curlin in the Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park on July 12, 2008, the 6-year-old Red Rocks is now back with Brian Meehan at Manton in Middlesex, England, after having spent a year in New York with Mark Hennig.