Fever forces Inthemidstofbiz out of Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Inthemidstofbiz has been scratched as a longshot from the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint after being found Thursday morning at Keeneland to have a slight fever, according to trainer Cipriano Contreras.
The defection of Inthemidstofbiz reduces the field for the $1 million Filly and Mare Sprint to eight. The seven-furlong race will be run Saturday as the fourth of 12 races and the first of nine straight BC events.
Inthemidstofbiz, a speedy 4-year-old filly based at Indiana Grand, was a 13-1 winner of the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of American Stakes last month at Keeneland. Her scratch essentially leaves three horses to vie for the early lead in the Filly and Mare Sprint – Gamine and Serengeti Empress, the two favorites, along with Venetian Harbor.
Inthemidstofbiz, who was assigned post 4 as a 30-1 morning-line chance, represented what would have been the first BC starter for Contreras and jockey Emmanuel Esquivel.
“It’s disappointing, but it is what it is,” said Contreras. “The filly is going to be fine.”