The connections of 2021 Dan Patch Stakes champion Catch The Fire have announced that their millionaire pacer will skip the 2022 edition.

“'Fire' has raced huge the last two weeks in a row, winning in 1:47[.4] and 1:46[.4]. I’ve been beating myself up trying to decide if we should race him back again in six days for the Dan Patch and have talked with my partner Charles Taylor about it repeatedly," said owner Greg Luther. "On Monday morning, we took his leg wraps off after shipping home and he had a small bump on his tendon. He jogged OK but I’m not in a position in life that I’d ever need to push a horse like this that’s not absolutely 100 per cent.

"They say it’s nothing to worry about, but I simply don’t want to race him unless I know he can continue to set track records as he did Saturday at The Meadowlands. He’s proven everything there is to prove as a race horse, which is why we get calls nearly every day from breeders looking to get a slot with him for the 2023 season. I’ll always take care of him as the champion he is, so he won’t be racing this week. We’ll train him hard in a week or two and see how things look before his next start.”

Last Saturday, Catch The Fire won the Sam McKee Memorial for the second year in a row, stopping the clock in 1:46.4, which was a track record for older pacing stallions at The Meadowlands. Todd Luther trains the five-year-old Captaintreacherous-Dream Outloud stallion, who notched his 18th career win and boosted his bankroll over the $1.5 million mark, for owners Black Magic Racing LLC and CT Stables LLC.

(with files from Black Magic Racing)