Jack Christopher not entered for Breeders' Cup Sprint
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Three-time Grade 1 winner Jack Christopher was not entered Monday for Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland owing to concerns from his connections that the horse would be scratched before race day by Kentucky Horse Racing Commission veterinarians based on how the horse moves in his training, according to trainer Chad Brown.
“I’ve decided not to enter Jack Christopher to race this weekend in the Breeders’ Cup,” Brown wrote in a text message. “It was a difficult decision, but it’s my understanding that the veterinary teams in charge of clearing horses to participate are likely to scratch the horse on or before race day primarily based on the way he moves.
“I have done my due diligence and radiographed Jack Christopher from head to toe and sent the information to Dr. Larry Bramlage [of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital], and no fractures or areas of concern were found by him,” Brown added. “Despite this, I feel it’s best for all parties involved not to have him scratched later this week and take away from the positive media coverage that should be the focus of our industry’s championship weekend.”
A decision on Jack Christopher’s racing future will be made in the days to come, Brown later said. Jack Christopher is owned in a partnership between Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, and Coolmore, the latter having acquired the colt’s breeding rights.
Jack Christopher has a crabby way of jogging, and that is one criteria the on-site veterinarians use to determine whether a horse would be permitted to race in the Breeders’ Cup. Last year, the on-site veterinarians scratched Jack Christopher from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile after he was entered and was made the morning-line favorite. The horse was later diagnosed with a knee injury.
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Though he may not train pretty, Jack Christopher, a son of Munnings, has compiled a stellar race record with five wins from six starts. He’s won three Grade 1 races, including the Champagne at 2 and the Woody Stephens and H. Allen Jerkens at 3. He also won the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile, off a seven-month layoff, to begin his 3-year-old season.
Jack Christopher’s lone defeat came in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, his lone start at two turns and 1 1/8 miles, where he finished third two lengths behind Cyberknife.
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