(Edited NYRA release)
New York Racing Association stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes said trainer H. Graham Motion confirmed that 10-year-old Better Talk Now would skip the July 11 Man o’ War (gr. IT).
Scratched from the July 4 United Nations Stakes (gr. IT) at Monmouth Park after injuring a hind splint bone, Better Talk Now will likely start next in the grade I, $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 15. Better Talk Now has run in the Sword Dancer twice before, winning the race in 2004 and finishing second in 2008.
The field for the 51st running of the 500,000 Man o’War at 1 3/8th miles on grass is expected to include Chinchon , Dancing Forever, Gio Ponti, Grand Couturier, Marsh Side, Midships, Quijano, and Thewayyourare.