Two-time defending Breeders' Cup Mile champion Wise Dan has withdrawn from this month's race at Santa Anita because of an ankle injury.
Wise Dan had qualified for the Mile on Nov. 1 by rallying to win the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 4. Owner Morton Fink informed Breeders' Cup officials on Monday that the reigning two-time horse of the year will not run after developing a non-displaced fracture at the bottom of the cannon bone of the right front fetlock.
Fink said in a statement issued by the Breeders' Cup that the 7-year-old likely injured the ankle in the Shadwell and added, "We would never want him to race unless he is 100 percent."
Wise Dan has won 23 of 31 career starts including all four this year.