Temple City will skip Breeders’ Cup Marathon

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Temple City, winner of the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar in July, will not start in Friday’s $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon at Churchill Downs, trainer Carla Gaines said Sunday.

Instead, owner B. Wayne Hughes and Gaines have opted to leave Temple City at Hollywood Park for the $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup over 1 1/2 miles on Nov. 13.

“He didn’t take to the dirt too well at Hawthorne,” Gaines said. “We can stay here on a course we know he likes.”

Temple City finished last of eight in the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup over 1 1/4 miles on Oct. 2, his only career start on a dirt surface and his most recent outing.

Temple City, a 5-year-old horse, has won 4 of 14 starts and $276,400. The Cougar II Handicap on the synthetic main track at Del Mar is his only stakes win. He was second in the Grade 2 American Handicap on turf here in July.