Illuminant could be sold – or not

Illuminant, unraced since winning the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita in May, might be offered at the Fasig-Tipton November sale in Kentucky but is not certain to be sold, according to Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners.

Eclipse owns Illuminant, who won her first stakes in the Gamely on turf for fillies and mares. Illuminant has been plagued by minor ailments that led to her being sent to Kentucky for an evaluation by noted veterinarian Larry Bramlage.

Wellman said Bramlage told him that Illuminant is fit to return to racing. Wellman said Illuminant could be withdrawn from the sale and put back in training with Michael McCarthy.

“We could test the market and see what she brings, or we could bypass that,” Wellman said. “We got a positive report from Dr. Bramlage.

“Michael McCarthy wasn’t happy with the way she was traveling at Del Mar. We decided to send her to Dr. Bramlage. We wanted to check under the hood.”

Wellman said Illuminant’s condition will be assessed in late October before a decision is made whether to offer her at the sale.

“We decided we’d give her 60 days of downtime in Kentucky,” he said.

Illuminant, by Quality Road, has won 4 of 11 starts and earned $367,650. She was third behind Tepin in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland in April.