In the Gold out of Juv. Fillies

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - In the Gold, who was listed as the co-fourth choice in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, was scratched out of the race on Wednesday due to a fever, trainer Nick Zito confirmed on Thursday.

The scratch reduced the field to 12 runners. In the Gold was included in the head-to-head wager and was substituted with Play With Fire.

Zito said the fever was diagnosed Wednesday afternoon. He said he had no choice but to treat In the Gold with strong antibiotics.

"It was something you can't play around with," Zito said. "Before we did anything stupid we scratched her. She's normal now. I've never seen a horse that had anything run well in big races. It's a shame when it happened because she was doing so good. But like a friend of mine said, it's not bad luck, it's normal luck."

In the Gold, owned by Live Oak Plantation, was coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Alcibiades at Keeneland.

Zito said he would look to run In the Gold this fall at Churchill Downs, most likely in the $200,000 Golden Rod on Nov. 27.

The Juvenile Fillies field started with 16 pre-entrants. Since then, Enduring Will, Ready's Gal, Quiet Honor and In the Gold were declared to injury or illness.