Fever knocks Sistercharlie out of Jenny Wiley Stakes

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Sistercharlie, North America’s female turf champion of 2018, will not make her seasonal debut in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland on April 13 as expected, owing to a temperature, trainer Chad Brown said Friday.

“She spiked a fever on us, so she’s going to miss the Jenny Wiley, but she’ll be fine,” Brown said. “We’ll just regroup with her. Where she’ll start her season, I’m not sure yet, but she’s recovering very well.”

Sistercharlie won last year’s Jenny Wiley by 2 1/4 lengths, leading a 1-2-3 finish in the race for Brown. That was the first of four Grade 1 victories in 2018 for Sistercharlie, an Irish-bred filly owned by Peter Brant. Her season culminated with a neck victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs.

Sistercharlie showed six workouts between Feb. 3 and March 10 at the Palm Meadows training center in South Florida. Brown said Sistercharlie would remain in South Florida until “she’s 100 percent healthy.” Then, she would likely ship to New York.

Brown is planning to send 26 horses from Florida to Keeneland, including the trio of Rushing Fall, Rymska, and Onthemoonagain for the Jenny Wiley.

◗ A $29,000 starter-allowance race at five furlongs on turf is the nominal feature on Gulfstream Park’s closing-day program of the championship meet. Cordele, who has won her last three sprints on turf, likely will go favored in a field of seven for trainer Tamara Levy and Drawing Away Stable.