Itsmyluckyday to skip Breeders’ Cup, point for Cigar Mile

Itsmyluckyday will get a rematch with Vyjack in the Cigar Mile (Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos)

Woodward winner Itsmyluckyday, third as the 3-5 favorite in Saturday’s

Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park, will not ship to Santa Anita for the
Breeders’ Cup. Rather,
it was announced Monday that the Eddie Plesa Jr. trainee will aim for the
November 29 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct.

“#Itsmyluckyday will not be racing in the #BreedersCup14,”

Gulfstream Park tweeted Monday morning. “Headed to Cigar Mile at Aqueduct.”

Not originally nominated for the Breeders’ Cup, Itsmyluckyday could have been
supplemented for $100,000 according to the terms of the “Horses
of Racing Age Nomination Program.” That one-time fee would have made him
Breeders’ Cup eligible for the rest of his racing career.

But the four-year-old son of Lawyer Ron is due to enter stud at

Spendthrift near Lexington, Kentucky, in 2015, so connections would have
been paying just to run in this year’s Breeders’ Cup.

Owned by Trilogy Stable and Laurie Plesa, Itsmyluckyday captured last year’s
Holy Bull and Gulfstream Park Derby, and finished second in both the Florida
Derby and Preakness, before sustaining a pelvic fracture. The dark bay was
sidelined for the remainder of his sophomore campaign, but has recovered to
become among the nation’s top older males this season.