Best Pal Is Unlikely to Race Again in ’92
There is no chance Best Pal will defend his title in the $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 30 at Del Mar and it is unlikely the 4-year-old Habitony gelding will race again this year.
Trainer Gary Jones said Saturday that Best Pal, who won the San Fernando and Charles H. Strub stakes and the Santa Anita and Oaklawn handicaps earlier this year, has been sent to Dr. Jay Rose at San Luis Rey Downs to undergo a bone scan. After that, Best Pal will go to owner John Mabee’s Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona.
About three weeks after he finished fourth in the Pimlico Special on May 9, Best Pal was discovered to have an injured splint bone in his right foreleg. The injury was treated and the California-bred recently returned to training with Jones trying to get him ready for the Pacific Classic, the final leg of the American Championship Racing Series.
However, Best Pal hadn’t looked good since coming back, according to Jones.
“I told Mr. Mabee he wasn’t going right and he said not to go anymore,” Jones said.
“We sent him down there for the bone scan to see if there’s anything else in there (Best Pal’s right foreleg) that needs fixing.”
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