Grade 1 winner Sporting Chance to be evaluated, get time off

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Monday that Sporting Chance, who failed to finish Saturday's Grade 2 Jim Dandy after bolting near the quarter pole, will be sent for an physical evaluation and given time off.

By Tiznow, the colt has developed a habit of spooking and shying during the stretch run in past races, including last year's Grade 1 Hopeful victory, another stakes at Saratoga. In that race, he survived an inquiry after swerving in the final sixteenth. Sporting Chance made a similarly sudden outward move in the spring in the Grade 2 Blue Grass, where crossed the wire in third before being disqualified to fourth.

"It's all mental. It really is," said Lukas. "What we do is ship him to Lexington, [Kentucky] and have Dr. Bramlage [of Rood & Riddle] go over him top to bottom, and look at him. We can't find anything physically wrong with him.

"No matter what the evaluation is, we take him out for two to three months. Kick him out to pasture and let him learn to appreciate us a little more."