Sweet Hearth won't travel to U.S. for Cup

Sweet Hearth, pre-entered in both the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and the Filly & Mare Sprint, will not be traveling to Santa Anita for either race as she scoped badly on Thursday at her training base in Chantilly, according to the Racing Post. Her trainer, Alain de Royer-Dupre, promptly withdrew her from consideration.

Sweet Hearth had finished second in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret on Oct. 4 when she was headed on the line by Varenar while finishing a half-length in front of Breeders' Cup Mile favorite Goldikova. Her defection means that there are now only two French-trained horses left in the Cup, Goldikova herself and her Freddy Head-trained stablemate Only Green, who runs in the Filly & Mare Turf Sprint.

The withdrawal of Sweet Hearth from her first preference in the Dirt Mile leaves a spot open for either Karelian or Mr. Sidney, both of whose first choices are the Mile, or for Ready's Echo, who is pre-entered solely in the Dirt Mile.