Fever, stomach problem lead to Lucky Chucky scratched

Reigning Dan Patch Award winner Lucky Chucky, the pre-season 2010 Hambletonian favorite, was scheduled to make his first appearance of the year Friday night at the Meadowlands, but trainer Chuck Sylvester has scratched the colt due to illness. Sylvester told harnessracing.com Friday morning that although Lucky Chucky spiked a fever on Thursday, the temperature came down, but the son of Windsong’s Legacy is also battling stomach problems.

“I think he has something in his stomach like an ulcer, and it’s causing cramping,” said Sylvester. “He’s not sick like he has a virus. He’s perfect one minute and then cramping up the next minute.”

Sylvester said he is still hoping to now enter Lucky Chucky in the Historic-Dickerson Cup on July 2 at the Meadowlands, but that will depend on the trotter’s health over the next few days.

“I’m going to change his feed. I’ll probably put him in for next Friday but I’ll have to wait to see how he does. If not, we’ll wait for the following week,” he said. “I didn’t want to take a chance because he cramped up yesterday, so I said let’s just scratch him.”

Last year, Lucky Chucky won nine of 12 starts, including the Valley Victory and Matron finals, and earned $667,792 for Sylvester and partners Neal Goldman and Amy Stoltzfus. The trotter returned this year in a June 11 qualifier at the Meadowlands, in which he was a winner in 1:55.4. On June 18, Lucky Chucky scored a second qualifying victory in 1:55.

“We’ve been very happy with him coming back,” said Sylvester. “John (driver John Campbell) said after last week that he was ready to go anywhere we wanted to go, and I said that’s what we wanted to hear.”

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