Polydream, Code of Honor among Breeders' Cup scratches

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Polydream, the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s $2 million Mile, and Code of Honor, the third choice for Friday’s $2 million Juvenile, were among the key scratches out of the Breeders’ Cup races, it was announced Friday morning.

Polydream, 5-1 on the morning line, was scratched out of the Mile by the Breeders’ Cup examining veterinarians, who deemed the 3-year-old Irish-bred filly lame Friday morning.

Trainer Freddie Head disagreed with that assessment and said Polydream was fit and ready to run.

Polydream joins the California-based Hunt - who did not ship to Kentucky - as scratches from the BC Mile. Those scratches allow Divisidero and Clemmie to draw in from the also-eligible list.

Meanwhile, trainer Shug McGaughey said Friday morning that Code of Honor, second to Complexity in the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park, had a 103-degree temperature Friday morning and had to scratch from the Juvenile.

McGaughey said Code of Honor left some feed and coughed a few times Friday morning.

“He’d been harboring something and it came out at the right time,” McGaughey said. “Hopefully, it won’t be a big deal and we can get him home and point to the Remsen.

The Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen Stakes at 1 1/8 miles is scheduled for Dec. 1 at Aqueduct.

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McGaughey said he had been excited to run Code of Honor in the Juvenile.

“His works were all right on and he seemed to get down here fine,” McGaughey said.

The scratch of Code of Honor leaves a 13-horse field for the Juvenile, the last of five Breeders’ Cup races for 2-year-olds to be run on Friday’s card.

Trainer Wesley Ward scratched Shang Shang Shang from the Juvenile Turf Sprint due to the soft turf on Friday. Shang Shang Shang hadn’t run since winning the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes on June 21 at Royal Ascot.

“No use leading a filly of this quality over there when we know which surface she prefers, more so which one she doesn’t prefer,” said Ward, who still had three runners in the Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Ward said that he would get with the owners this weekend to discuss future plans for Shang Shang Shang, but he believes the daughter of Shanghai Bobby is equally as effective on dirt and he would like to run her on that surface next year.

“If she wins a group race on the dirt it adds to her value and resume,” Ward said.

Big Drink of Water, a winner of four of five starts, drew into the field for the Juvenile Turf Sprint.

“We’re running for sure,” Larry Rivelli, trainer of Big Drink of Water, said after landing in Louisville.

The other also eligibles - Comedy, Van Beethoven and Legends of War - all were scratched.

Awesome Slew, a 15-1 shot, was scratched out of Saturday’s $1 million Dirt Mile, leaving a nine-horse field.

“He’s been a little under the weather the last day or two,” trainer Mark Casse said.

There were no scratches from the body of Saturday’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic by 8 a.m. Friday - the designated scratch time for both Friday and Saturday’s BC races - meaning the also-eligibles Collected and Toast of New York were scratched from that race.

Bob Baffert said he had no backup plan for Collected. Toast of New York was scheduled to run in Friday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Marathon Stakes, the final race of the day at Churchill Downs.

- additional reporting by Marcus Hersh and Jay Privman