Majestic Warrior out of BC Juvenile

ELMONT, N.Y. - Majestic Warrior, who won the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga but then was a disappointing sixth as the favorite earlier this month in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, on Sunday morning was declared out of next Saturday's Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Monmouth Park by trainer Bill Mott, who said Majestic Warrior was suffering from an injury to his left front hoof.

"He has some hoof wall separation," Mott said Sunday morning at his Belmont Park barn. "It's underneath the hoof wall. I'm 95-percent confident this is what we were looking for, and he did enough the other day that we were able to discover it."

Mott had been closely monitoring Majestic Warrior following his poor performance in the Champagne, because, until this injury surfaced, he could not find an explanation for the colt's dull effort. Mott gave Majestic Warrior an easy workout here on Thursday, and believes that helped bring the problem to the fore.

"It's similar to a quarter crack, except it's in the toe instead of the heel," Mott said. Mott said the injury was discovered with radiographs, which he then produced while patiently explaining the nature of the injury.

"I'm sure this was very uncomfortable for him," Mott said of Majestic Warrior. "We were able to cut it out and clean it up. We've already got a protective shoe on him.

"He could very well be back in training in a few days. He might even be able to make a race like the Remsen (at Aqueduct) or the Kentucky Jockey Club (at Churchill Downs) at the end of next month, depending on when he gets back to the track and we can test it. But we don't have enough time to test it for a race on Saturday."

Majestic Warrior, a colt by A.P. Indy, has won twice in three starts. He won his debut at Saratoga on Aug. 4, then won the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes prior to the Champagne.

With Majestic Warrior out of the Juvenile, all 2-year-olds who want to run in the race will be able to do so. There were 16 pre-entries in the race, for which a maximum of 14 can run. Beresford was declared from the race last week, and now Majestic Warrior.