Maimonides to miss Breeders' Cup

Maimonides, the $4.6 million son of Vindication who finished third in Monday's Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, came out of the race with bucked shins and will miss this fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, his connections said Thursday.

Sobhy Sonbol, the racing manager for owner Ahmed Zayat, said that Maimonides will be out of training for three to four weeks, but could still possibly race again as a 2-year-old.

"He'll definitely miss the Breeders' Cup, but he can still get some 2-year-old action," Sonbol said Thursday morning at Belmont Park. "He'll need three to four weeks to get over his shins and start back training and get ready for the winter."

Maimonides, trained by Bob Baffert, won his debut by 11 1/2 lengths on Aug. 8 at Saratoga. In the Hopeful, he made all the early pace before being tackled by Ready's Image and then Majestic Warrior. Maimonides finished third, beaten 5 1/2 lengths by Majestic Warrior.

"He was going too easy to stop that way, he should have just opened up," Sonbol said. "That explains why he stopped. He's got enough speed to keep on going. He's got so much natural ability to keep on going."

Sonbol said that J Z Warrior, a 10-length maiden winner at Saratoga on July 29 has also been stopped on due to bucked shins. A 2-year-old daughter of Harlan's Holiday, J Z Warrior is trained by Bill Mott.

Sonbol said that J Be K, who set a track record for 5 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga (1:03.13) when he won his debut, is likely to run next in the Grade 1 Champagne here on Oct, 6.