Claire Novak 9y

American Pharoah out of Cup

Horse Racing

Zayat Stables' American Pharoah will be scratched from the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile, trainer Bob Baffert confirmed Oct. 28 at Santa Anita Park.

The homebred Pioneerof the Nile colt was coming off back-to-back victories in the Sept. 27 FrontRunner Stakes and in the Sept. 3 Del Mar Futurity.

Owner Ahmed Zayat said via Twitter: "American Pharoah will be scratched; was off this morning. Horse comes first. Vets can't find anything visually wrong, X-rays are clean."

Baffert, during an impromptu news conference at 9:30 a.m. PT, said American Pharoah was withdrawn from the Juvenile because of what could be a "deep bruise" in his left front foot. He said it was discovered after the colt's sharp workout Oct. 27.

"It was a great work but he wasn't 100 percent afterward," Baffert said. "We were working on the foot but I wasn't really comfortable with it, so we X-rayed him and did an ultrasound. Everything was clean, so we're hoping it's just a bruise.

"He's getting better day to day but he's too valuable and we don't want to risk it. Mr. Zayat didn't want to risk it [and decided not to run]. I've had horses withdrawn before races but this one has to be the most disappointing. We all saw how he was training and he's something special; I haven't had a colt like this in a long time.

"I think he's going to be OK, and he is getting better already, but it's a tough pill to swallow. I've never had a bad day with this horse. He had the perfect draw [in post 5], but I would gladly trade a perfect draw for him to be 100 percent and race."

Baffert said American Pharoah will undergo additional testing in the coming days.

"We have to pinpoint exactly what it is," he said. "It's not soft tissue, it's not bone, but there's something there so we'll just have to deal with it with some more diagnostic evaluation."

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