The Breeders’ Cup lost two more contenders on Friday with the announced defections of It Tiz Well from the Distaff (G1) and Bal a Bali from the Mile (G1).
Reportedly unsatisfied with her condition following a workout earlier in the week, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer ruled out It Tiz Well from next Friday’s 1 1/8-mile Distaff. The three-year-old daughter of Arch, coming off a victory in the Cotillion (G1) over Abel Tasman, previously captured the Delaware Oaks (G3) and Honeybee (G3) and placed in the Alabama (G1) and Santa Anita Oaks (G1). She will stay in training as a four-year-old.
Trainer Richard Mandella announced the retirement of the Calumet Farm-owned Bal a Bali.
“We’ve been trying to get him back to top form, which he needs to be to compete against these horses, and I just don’t feel that he’s there,” Mandella said. “I didn’t feel it would be right to run him when he’s not 100 percent.
“He’s fine (physically) but we just weren’t able to get him to where he needs to be and we feel this is the right thing to do.”
A multiple Group 1 winner in his native Brazil, Bal a Bali achieved the same heights this season with victories in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1) in March and the Shoemaker Mile (G1) in June, both at Santa Anita.
This is the second defection from the Breeders’ Cup for a Calumet-bound stallion in as many days. Grade 1 winner Keen Ice was declared from the Classic (G1) on Thursday after the detection of an injury.
