Sharp Samurai out of BC Mile with throat infection

ARCADIA, Calif. – Sharp Samurai, who has won five stakes in the last 18 months, will miss the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 because of illness, trainer Mark Glatt said on Thursday.

Sharp Samurai has been diagnosed with a throat infection and is undergoing treatment, Glatt said.

“He’s not going to run,” Glatt said. “You have to be 110 percent ready to run in those races.”

The illness was diagnosed last Saturday. Sharp Samurai was pre-entered for the BC Mile on Monday with the hope the illness would quickly subside.

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“We monitored it,” Glatt said. “We thought it would be something he could get over, but it will not be in time for the race.”

Sharp Samurai has won 8 of 14 starts and earned $735,270. He won the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita on Oct. 6 for his first stakes win this year. As a 3-year-old in 2017, Sharp Samurai won four consecutive stakes, including the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby and Grade 2 Twilight Derby.

The absence of Sharp Samurai will allow the 5-year-old gelding Mustashry to join the field from the list of also-eligibles. The BC Mile will have a maximum of 14 starters. The race drew 21 pre-entries, leaving seven horses on an also-eligible list.

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Trained in England by Michael Stoute, Mustashry has won 7 of 15 starts and earned $386,496, all for Shadwell Stable. Mustashry won the Group 2 Joel Stakes at seven furlongs at Newmarket Racecourse on Sept. 28, his third stakes win in his last four starts.