Fantasy Lane Stable’s Uptowncharlybrown was scratched from the $1 million IZOD Haskell Invitational on morning of the Aug. 1 race after the colt was found to have spiked a fever just before getting on a van at Belmont Park.
“He was running a 103-104 fever this morning,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “The timing was terrible. It’s unfortunate for the owners, another bit of bad luck for this horse."
Normal temperature for a horse is 100 degrees.
"We’ll see how he comes out of this, and then regroup,” McLaughlin said.
Uptowncharlybrown was 15-1 on the morning line. The scratch reduces the Haskell field to seven.
Owned by Fantasy Lane Stable, the colt finished fifth in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), his first race for McLaughlin, but was disqualified from purse money because he carried the wrong weight.
Uptowncharlybrown lost his original trainer when Alan Seewald died in April.