Mr. Money to miss Lecomte Stakes with illness
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
NEW ORLEANS – Mr. Money is out of the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds after getting sick Friday.
Trainer Bret Calhoun said Friday that Mr. Money had a routine gallop this morning, after which his exercise rider told Calhoun the colt had coughed throughout his exercise. Calhoun said an endoscopic examination didn't reveal much, but by Friday afternoon, Mr. Money had a fever and clearly had come down with something.
"Bad timing. He couldn't have had a better last three or four weeks. There's not another horse in the barn that's sick right now either," said Calhoun.
Mr. Money would've been among the Lecomte favorites on the strength of an eye-catching maiden win and a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in his last two starts as a 2-year-old. Calhoun will wait for his horse to get healthy again but said the Risen Star Stakes here Feb. 16 could still be in play if Mr. Money recovers quickly. Mr. Money, a son of Goldencents, also is eligible for a first-level allowance race.
Mr. Money had post 4, so the nine expected runners drawn outside him move in one stall. Admire, who drew post 14, and West Texas, the lone also-eligible, also are expected to be withdrawn from the race.
