Although Bob Baffert’s request for a Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) invitation for his Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) winner Game On Dude was duly delivered by the Dubai Racing Club, the gelding will be staying in his stall at Santa Anita rather than racing for $10-million on March 26.
Baffert said after Game On Dude galloped on March 14 that he “has got something in his foot … it looks like an abscess ready to pop.”
“I just don’t feel comfortable putting him on a plane,” Baffert added, noting that the American-based horses running in Dubai are flying out for the Middle East on March 15. “If I had an extra week to work with it, it might be OK, but I had to pull the plug on him.
“Everything happens for a reason,” he added philosophically.
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