Big Drama Wins Whippleton at Calder

Eclipse champion sprinter Big Drama returned from a layoff of more than 6 ½ months with a 2-¼ length victory in the $72,750 Whippleton Stakes Sept. 4 at Calder Casino & Race Course.

Owner/breeder Harold L. Queen and trainer David Fawkes are hoping the race, in which he defeated three rivals at odds of 1-10, will put him on track to defend his title in the $1.5 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I) at Churchill Downs Nov. 5.

“I was relieved when they (Calder race officials) got the race to go and we didn’t have to ship (to Monmouth), but I’m even more relieved now, and he did it without a shoe (left fore)," said Fawkes by phone from Saratoga. "We think he might have lost it leaving the gate.

"After he made the lead, he just coasted home. It was all very smooth. He’ll stay down there and train and then be flown up here (Belmont Park) the week of the Vosburgh (Oct. 2).”