Horse Racing News by Steve Haskin

Zayat Stables' Paynter, winner of the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, has suffered a recurrence of the illness that kept him out of the Aug. 25 Travers Stakes.

Paul Reddam's European-based Cogito, who was scheduled to leave Aug. 17 for Saratoga Race Course to compete in the Travers Stakes, will remain home after straining an muscle in his back, Reddam told The Blood-Horse.

Paul Reddam may have lost I'll Have Another and finished unplaced in the Haskell Invitational with Handsome Mike, but that doesn't mean he's out of the 3-year-old picture.

A deep, competitive field of eight will face off in the $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes July 28 at Saratoga Race Course to determine who continues to the $1 million Travers Stakes Aug. 25.

The jockey, the trainer, and the owner will all be very familiar, but a new name, Handsome Mike, will be representing the team of Doug O'Neill, Paul Reddam, and Mario Gutierrez in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park July 29.

Acclamation, 2011 champion older male, will attempt to extend his winning streak to seven this weekend in the July 21 Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar, a race he captured a year ago in wire-to-wire fashion.

Team Valor International's Went the Day Well, winner of the Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes and a fast-closing fourth in the Kentucky Derby, will not run again this year due to bone bruising in his front ankles.

When Union Rags dropped out of the July 29 Haskell Invitational due to a suspensory injury, it left the door open for a possible Bodemeister -- Hansen speed slugfest to determine the top 3-year-old in training.

Paul Reddam's I'll Have Another, winner of the Santa Anita Derby and Robert Lewis Stakes, has been automatically placed on the vet's list in California after undergoing extracorporeal shock wave therapy on his back.

There's a good chance we'll have a clear-cut favorite for the Kentucky Derby after the Feb. 26 clash between the undefeated Holy Bull winner Algorithms and Champagne winner Union Rags in the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes.