Bright Thought Out of Breeders' Cup Turf
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Bright Thought, winner of the John Henry Turf Championship (gr. IIT) at Santa Anita Park, will not run in the Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT), trainer Phil D'Amato said Oct. 17.
According to D'Amato, the 5-year-old son of Hat Trick developed a wing fracture, or quarter crack, in his left front hoof that will require a couple of months to grow out.
"His whole career he has been plagued by chronic feet issues," the trainer said. "There's not much we can do other than give him time to heal. We'll bring him back and have a fresh horse for next year."
Owned by Marjorie Dye and Alex Venneri, Bright Thought was on top of his game in the John Henry Sept. 28, sweeping to the lead approaching the quarter pole en route to a three-quarter-length victory in a time of 1:58.27 for the 1 1/4-mile distance. It was the dark bay ridgling's first win since he captured the 1 1/2-mile San Luis Rey Stakes (gr. IIT) in March 2013 in a sparkling time of 2:22.72 at Santa Anita.
Trained at the time by Jorge Gutierrez, Bright Thought was out of action for 7 1/2 months after the San Luis Rey. He returned in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IT) last Nov. 2 and finished last of 10.
He'd only recently joined D'Amato's barn, finishing third for the first-year trainer in the Del Mar Handicap (gr. IIT) prior to the John Henry.
D'Amato still has Big John B., winner of the Del Mar Handicap, for the Breeders' Cup Turf.
Bred in Kentucky by Postum Farm and Venneri Racing out of the Smart Strike mare Smart Thought, Bright Thought has five wins from 15 career starts with earnings of $339,161.