Moreno scratched from Oaklawn Handicap

Moreno was scratched from Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap due to a case of shipping fever, according to trainer Eric Guillot, who added that he is now considering running the horse in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic on April 19.

Guillot said Moreno had a 102-degree temperature on Thursday in Arkansas following a flight from Southern California. Guillot said Moreno needed to be treated with antibiotics to reduce the fever, which resulted in him having to scratch from Saturday’s race.

Guillot said Moreno was able to return to the track on Friday and Saturday morning. He said the horse would be flown from Arkansas to Keeneland on Sunday. Guillot hopes to work Moreno a half-mile early Tuesday morning at Keeneland, and if all is right with the horse he would travel by plane from Kentucky to Charles Town in West Virginia later Tuesday afternoon.

“I don’t know if he’ll run good on a bullring, but I know he’ll run good fresh,” Guillot said, referring to Charles Town's six-furlong track.

The Oaklawn Handicap was to have been Moreno’s first start of 2014. Last year, he raced 12 times, winning the Grade 2 Dwyer and finishing second to Will Take Charge - the Oaklawn Park Handicap favorite - in the Travers and Pennsylvania Derby. He has not run since finishing 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.