Mystik Dan will miss Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile after vet scratch

Mystik Dan will sit out the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile after being scratched by regulatory veterinarians.

Trainer Kenny McPeek, whose 2-year-old Blackout Time was scratched from Friday's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, said in an X post, "My team put both these horses on the plane without a single soundness concern. Neither horse has had any history of unsoundness."

McPeek told David Grening of Daily Racing Form, “the reason they said was responds to flexion left ankle,” according to an X post.

The 2024 Kentucky Derby winner wraps up his career with a record of 16: 5-3-1 and earnings of $4.8 million.

After his Kentucky Derby win by a nose at 18-1, Mystik Dan posted five consecutive losses, including a runner-up effort in the Preakness. He took time off after his Triple Crown run and returned in the Grade 1 Malibu, finishing sixth, followed by a ninth-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) in January. After a few months of rest, he returned to finish second in the Lake Ouachita at Oaklawn, then won the Blame (G3) in May.

Fourth-place finishes in the Stephen Foster (G1) and Arlington Million (G1) followed, and in his most recent start, he won the Lukas Classic (G1).

Mystik Dan was bred by Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby and 4G Racing, who co-own the colt with Valley View Farm. He will stand next year at Airdrie Stud in Midway, Ky.