Lea, the five year-old son of First Samurai whose two wins this year include a score over Will Take Charge in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap, will skip the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic, the Blood-Horse reports (here).
The horse had spiked a fever earlier this week and is expected, trainer Bill Mott told the publication, to miss a couple of weeks of training.
Lea had been expected to serve as the toughest competition for defending champ Game On Dude, the likely favorite in the Classic.
Lea, bred and owned by Claiborne Farm & Adele B. Dilschneider, has won both of his starts this season. He opened the year with an easy win the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope before posting the first Grade 1 victory of his career in the Donn. He set a track record in the latter event, covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.86.
Lea has a record of 12-6-2-2 and earnings of more than $700,000.
