Zavata out of Champagne

ELMONT, N.Y. - Zavata, who would have been one of the favorites for Saturday's $500,000 Champagne at Belmont Park, will miss the Grade 1 race due to an ankle injury, trainer Patrick Biancone said.

"We found a bit of swelling in his left hind ankle," Biancone said from Saratoga. "It's nothing serious. If it happened five or six days before the race, it would have been okay. But it happened 48 hours before the race. He may have kicked a wall or something like that."

Biancone said that he still plans to run Zavata in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Zavata will accompany Whywhywhy and Stellar on a Monday flight to Chicago to prepare for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships at Arlington Park on Oct. 26.

Biancone did enter Brancusi, a maiden, in the Champagne. He also planned to enter Brancusi in Sunday's Grey Stakes at Woodbine.

A field of nine was expected for the Champagne led by Del Mar Futurity winner Icecoldbeeratreds and Hopeful and Futurity runner-up Pretty Wild. Others entered included Cape Good Hope, Desert Warrior, Erinsouthernman, Outer Reef, Risky Cat and Toccet.