Drosselmeyer, winner of the 2010 Belmont Stakes, will make his long
awaited 4-year-old debut here at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday as the
overwhelming favorite of a field of 11 older handicap runners in the
$60,000 Challenger Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.
Luis Garcia will handle Drosselmeyer at 122 pounds under the allowance conditions of the Challenger.
Drosselmeyer,
who originally had been targeted to race in the $10 million Dubai World
Cup on March 26, came down with a fever last month which caused him to
miss six days of training. That setback prompted him to miss a scheduled
start in New Orleans in the MIneshaft, which was intended to serve as a
prep for the Dubai race.
With the World Cup out of the picture,
trainer Bill Mott said he turned to the Challenger as the first step
back for Drosselmeyer.
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