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.