Wonder Gal has trip to Kentucky canceled

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The connections of Wonder Gal were hoping to run her in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks but would have settled for running her in the Grade 3 Eight Belles on the same May 1 card at Churchill Downs.

Unfortunately, she won’t be running in either race.

Wonder Gal was found with mucus in her trachea following training Wednesday and did not van to Louisville as expected Thursday with her three-time Grade 1-winning stablemate Sweet Reason.

Instead, Wonder Gal, voted the New York-bred champion 2-year-old filly of 2014, will attempt to train up to the Grade 1 Acorn on Belmont Stakes Day.

“It depends how quickly I can get this resolved,” trainer Leah Gyarmati said, referring to what might be next for Wonder Gal.

Gyarmati noted that Sweet Reason won the Acorn after having run third in the Gazelle two months prior without a race in between.

Wonder Gal, third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, finished fourth in the Grade 2 Gazelle on April 4, her first start this year. She likely wouldn’t have had enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Oaks, which is expected to attract more than the maximum of 14 runners. The Eight Belles, run at seven furlongs, was a backup plan, though not one that Gyarmati was particularly thrilled about.

“There’s plenty of stuff up here for her to run in,” Gyarmati said.

Meanwhile, Sweet Reason was expected to leave Belmont by van Thursday for the trip to Churchill, where she will run in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff on the Derby undercard.