from Oak Tree Racing:

Red Giant and Tropic Storm were declared out of their respective Breeders’ Cup engagements on Saturday, and Red Giant, winner of the Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship in his last start on Sept. 27, could have run his last race.

“We came in this morning, and he didn’t quite clean up (his feed) last night,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of Red Giant at Santa Anita Sunday morning. Red Giant was one of the favorites in the $2-million Turf.

“His temperature check was high (102 degrees), and it kind of continued to get higher throughout the morning,” Pletcher added. “The timing of it, six days before the race, gave him no time to recover and no time to work.

“I talked to Mr. Fort (owner John Fort of Camden, S.C., who races as Peachtree Stable) this morning. He basically said he had planned on this being Red Giant’s last race and to go ahead and try and make some stud plans for him.”

Red Giant, a 4-year-old Giant’s Causeway colt bred in Kentucky, had a 6-3-1 record from 12 career starts, with earnings of $1,092,410.

At Hollywood Park, trainer Craig Dollase said West Point Thoroughbreds’ Tropic Storm, whose first preference was the Sprint and second was the Turf Sprint, had “a soft tissue injury.” Asked how much time it might cost the 4-year-old Stormy Atlantic colt, Dollase said, “We are in the process of looking at that right now.”

__________________
www.DiscreetPicks.com