Lady Eli withdrawn from Keeneland November Sale

Five-time Grade 1 winner Lady Eli, who was expected to prove one of the stars of the upcoming Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, has been withdrawn from the auction having sustained a number of injuries in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, in which she finished a creditable seventh to Wuheida.

"After lengthy discussions with Chad Brown following the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, we have decided that we are going to scratch Lady Eli from this week's Keeneland November Sale," owners Sheep Pond Partners Jay Hanley and Sol Kumin said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, Lady Eli was banged around and stepped on from behind heading into the first turn. She suffered a number of significant lacerations to both of her hind legs and she lost one of her hind shoes in the incident. The fact that she raced another mile and finished the race with these injuries and shoeless is amazing, and a further testament to her toughness and courage.

"Right now our efforts are focused squarely on trying to get her well again. Putting her through the trials of a sale in her current condition is simply out of the question."

Lady Eli was reportedly flown from Southern California to Lexington on Sunday morning, where she headed to Hill 'n' Dale Farms to begin her recuperation. Despite being unable to take up her engagement with the auctioneer this week, the farm's John Sikura told the Blood-Horse that he was convinced Lady Eli's place in Turf history was assured.

"There wasn't a (US-based) filly that dominated the race or had a world-class performance that exceeded her body of work this year, and certainly her entire race career, in which she showed nothing but the highest level of class. She is unique and remarkable," he said.

"Though disappointed to scratch one of the greatest turf distaffers of all time, our philosophy at Hill 'n' Dale has always been to put the safety, soundness, and well being of our horses first. We trust the advice of the horse's owner and trainer."

Lady Eli, a daughter of Divine Park, won her first six starts, a run that included the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, before suffering a serious bout of laminitis as a result of stepping on a nail following her facile Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes success.

Her remarkable recovery not only saw her return to the track, which was by no means assured given the severity of her condition, but go on to add three more Grade 1 wins to her record.

A top-flight winner at two, three, four and five, Lady Eli won three of her five starts in 2017, namely the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita and the Grade 1 Diana Stakes and Grade 2 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga.

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