Tell a Great Story Out of Alabama With Hives

Tell a Great Story will be scratched from the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (gr. I) after breaking out in hives the morning of Aug. 16 at Saratoga Race Course, according to Tom Mullikin, Sagamore Racing's general manager.

The Maryland homebred daughter of Bluegrass Cat   was most recently third in the Delaware Oaks (gr. II) July 13 at Delaware Park, where she won the Go for Wand Stakes a month earlier.

Tell a Great Story arrived at Saratoga Aug. 12 for a run in the 1 1/4-mile Alabama. Listed at 12-1 odds, she was to break from the rail post. Her defection leaves just five 3-year-old fillies in the Aug. 17 race, which is headed by 3-5 morning line pick Princess of Sylmar.

Mullikin said in a statement that Tell a Great Story had been doing well in advance of the race before suffering hives.

"Since she was to race tomorrow, we could not medicate her, and instead tried several measures, including changing out her bedding, in the hopes the hives would dissipate," he said. "Unfortunately, the hives have gotten worse so we will treat her and she will be scratched from the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga this weekend.

"This is very disappointing for the entire Sagamore Racing team after putting in so much hard work over the past few months to get us to this point," Mullikin added. "We were very excited about the opportunity to have our homebred filly in such a prestigious race."

Tell a Great Story, out of the Not for Love mare Roadtohanna, owns a 3-1-2 mark from six starts with earnings of $136,820. Ignacio Correas IV trains the chestnut filly.