Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Rags To Riches will not run in Saturday’s Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. I), at Belmont Park as planned, trainer Todd Pletcher said July 16. The daughter of A.P. Indy spiked a temperature that forced the cancellation of her previously scheduled work, and Pletcher said she "hasn't quite seemd herself" for the past few days.
“We’re going to pass (the CCA Oaks),” Pletcher said in a release from the New York Racing Association. “Her temperature was 101 degrees, which is not high, but a little beyond the normal range. We galloped her this morning. We are going to take the conservative approach. We won’t breeze her without her being 100 percent."
The July 21 CCA Oaks was to be Rags To Riches' first start since her historic win in the June 9 Belmont Stakes, when she became the first filly to take the Belmont in 102 years.
'Our plan is now to point for the Alabama (Aug. 18) and the (Oct. 27) Breeders’ Cup," Pletcher said in a release from his public relations firm, Equisponse. "There are too many big races out there. If we were going to miss one race, this is the one to miss. But I am disappointed that we didn’t get to run her back because a lot of people were looking forward to seeing her again her at Belmont Park."
The $600,000 Alabama (gr. I) for 3-year-old fillies and mares will be run at 1 1/4-miles Aug. 18 at Saratoga Race Course.
Rags to Riches has five wins from five starts in 2007 for owners Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, including the May 4 Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) at Churchill Downs and the March 11 Santa Anita Oaks (gr. I). She was sired by 1992 Belmont Stakes winner A.P. Indy and is a half-sister to Jazil, winner of the 2006 Belmont Stakes.