Itsmyluckyday to skip Breeders' Cup, point for Cigar Mile

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.