The field for the 2011 Breeders' Cup Classic shurnk by one this morning when it was announced that the Bob Baffert trained Prayer for Relief would miss Saturday's marquee event. The scratch of Prayer for Relief leaves the Classic field at 12.
From the Breeders' Cup press release:
Zayat Stable’s 3-year-old Prayer for Relief will not run in Saturday’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs, according to Breeders’ Cup racing officials after not boarding a Tex Sutton Forwarding charter flight from Southern California early Tuesday morning along with other contenders trained by Bob Baffert.
Prayer for Relief reportedly developed a fever. The son of Jump Start won four straight races to begin the 2011 season before finishing third last out as the even-money favorite in the Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park on Oct. 16. Baffert will still be represented in the Classic by Lanni Family Trust and partners’ 4-year-old gelding Game On Dude, who was on the flight Tuesday morning due in Louisville near noon.