Friend Or Foe Re-Routed to Whitney

Friend Or Foe, part of a coupled entry that formed the 4-5 morning-line favorite for today’s Evan Shipman at Saratoga Race Course, has been scratched and will instead aim for a start in the Grade 1 Whitney Invitational Handicap on August 6.

Trainer John Kimmel said he decided to scratch Friend or Foe, a 4-year-old Chester and Mary Broman homebred, from the Evan Shipman after the main track came up sloppy and that the change in plans will be “insignificant” in its effect on the New York-bred’s training pattern.

“There goes the conservative route,” said Kimmel. “I guess it was meant to be. My horse is ready.”

Friend Or Foe, emphatic victor of last year’s Empire Classic, has made one start in 2011, defeating Grade 1 winner Rail Trip by a head in the Easy Goer overnight stakes at Belmont Park on June 5.