Donn Handicap (gr. I) winner Lea, who was expected to race in the upcoming Charles Town Classic (gr. II) at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, spiked a fever the week of April 7 and will miss a couple weeks of training, according to trainer Bill Mott.
"We're not going to rush him; we'll make sure he's over it," said Mott of the son of First Samurai , who is no longer pointing toward the CT Classic April 19. "He'll mostly just be resting. He's got some sort of viral infection, so that's what we're dealing with."
Lea won the Feb. 9 Donn Handicap in front-running fashion over Will Take Charge and set a track record at Gulfstream Park when he covered the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:46.86. Before that, he scored in the Hal's Hope Stakes (gr. II) in his seasonal debut Jan. 11.
A 5-year-old homebred owned by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, Lea is the first foal out of the Galileo mare Greenery.
Lea won or placed in four additional graded stakes while trained by Al Stall in 2012-13, including a victory in the Commonwealth Turf Stakes (gr. IIIT) at 3. His career record currently stands at 6-2-2 from 12 starts, for earnings of $709,618.
