Joking Likely Will Miss BC Sprint
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Joking wins the Vosburgh Stakes
Joking will likely miss the Nov. 5 TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park because of a fever, owner and trainer Charlton Baker said Oct. 31.
"We still entered him, but he's pretty much out," Baker said Monday morning.
The 7-year-old Distorted Humor gelding has won four straight starts since April, when he took an allowance/optional claiming event at Aqueduct Racetrack. Since then he's won three straight stakes—the Diablo, True North (gr. II), and Vosburgh (gr. I)—all sprinting at Belmont Park. The Vosburgh gave Joking a fees-paid, guaranteed spot in the Sprint through the Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" series.
Joking's absence would leave eight potential starters for the Sprint, the shortest field since 2008, when the race also featured eight runners.
A. P. Indian, Delta Bluesman, Drefong, Limousine Liberal, Lord Nelson, Masochistic, Mind Your Biscuits, and Noholdingback Bear are the expected entrants.