Saratoga: Stephanie's Kitten out of Beverly D. with hind-end problem

Stephanie’s Kitten, among the leaders of the older filly and mare turf division, will skip the Grade 1 Beverly D. on Aug. 17 at Arlington Park due to a hind-end issue, her connections said Wednesday.

Trainer Wayne Catalano was not pleased with how Stephanie’s Kitten trained on Wednesday in Saratoga. On Thursday, she was to be sent by van from Saratoga to the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky. for a nuclear scan.

“She wasn’t going real well, she was a little funny behind, we’ll send her out for a bone scan and see what we got,” said Catalano, who train Stephanie’s Kitten for Ken and Sarah Ramsey. “I don’t think it’s horrible; just want to know what we’re dealing with.”

Stephanie’s Kitten, 7 for 13 in her career, is a six-time stakes winner, including the Grade 1 Just a Game at Belmont earlier this year. She is coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga where she was beaten one-half length by Laughing.

Ramsey said he hopes that Stephanie’s Kitten could make it back for a race like the Flower Bowl at Belmont Park on Sept. 28.

Ramsey said that he would run Artemus Kitten, second in the Modesty Handicap, in the Beverly D.