Foot abscess derails Favorite Tale's bid to make Breeders' Cup Sprint
Favorite Tale was scratched out of a $90,000, no-conditions allowance sprint at Parx Racing last Saturday due to a foot abscess, according to trainer Lupe Preciado. Favorite Tale was going to use the race as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
Preciado said Favorite Tale missed three or four days of training due to the abscess and returned to the track Monday.
“It’s going to take a while to get him right again,” Preciado said. “We missed his prep race last weekend and will not be able to make the Breeders’ Cup.”
Favorite Tale finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last year despite breaking from post 14.
Favorite Tale could be ready to run in the $250,000 Frank De Francis Memorial Dash, a six-furlong race at Laurel Park on Nov. 15, according to Preciado. Another possibility is the $200,000 Fabulous Strike Stakes at Penn National on Nov. 23. Favorite Tale won the six-furlong Fabulous Strike a year ago.
This has been a lost season for Favorite Tale, a 5-year-old gelded son of Tale of the Cat. He made his lone start of the season in March and then needed an arthroscopic procedure to clean up loose material in a knee.
“We usually give him the winter off, but we tried to make the Dubai race with him last year, and things haven’t worked out very good,” Preciado said.