Fever knocks J S Bach out of Risen Star

NEW ORLEANS – J S Bach, the sharp Gulfstream Park maiden winner who would have been among the favorites in Saturday’s Risen Star Stakes here, had to be scratched because of a fever, and the focus now is getting him well enough to ship back to Gulfstream early next week.

The fever heaped misfortune upon bad luck, as J S Bach originally was shipped by trainer Todd Pletcher from Florida to Oaklawn Park to race in the Feb. 16 Southwest Stakes, but when a winter storm forced that race to be postponed, Pletcher entered J S Bach in the Risen Star and sent him by van on to Fair Grounds on Tuesday.

It was Wednesday night when the fever cropped up, according to Pletcher’s traveling assistant, Adele Bellinger, and the initial hope was that J S Bach had only a minor shipping fever. But his temperature failed to quickly subside, forcing the scratch, and though J S Bach had shown signs of improvement by Friday morning, he still was running a temperature.

“We haven’t treated it aggressively, so the fact it’s gone down on its own is a good sign,” Bellinger said. “Hopefully, we can get him back to Florida, get him well, and point to the next race.”

One of the horses who will ship back to Pletcher’s Palm Beach Downs base next week is the recently acquired Comfort, whom Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners purchased after his 4 1/2-length maiden win here Feb. 12.

Previously trained by Pavel Vaschenko, Comfort, a son of Indian Charlie, won in his third career start while trying dirt for the first time following two turf races. His performance produced a solid 83 Beyer Speed Figure.