by Greg Gangle, WEG media

Toronto, ON — St Elmo Hero, the most talked about horse in harness racing in the last few months, has been scratched from Saturday’s (March 5) Cam Fella elimination at Woodbine Racetrack, according to owner John Barnard.

The 5-year-old son of Western Hero has gone undefeated in 24 starts, while earning a 1:49.1 lifetime best and $202,950 in career earnings.

“It started (Tuesday) night,” Barnard commented from his stable in Illinois. “I’ve been around this horse long enough to know when something isn’t right with him. We pulled his temperature and sure enough it was high. It’s a terrible feeling to have to scratch him, but it’s for the best and I can’t expect him to get on a truck and ship to Canada when he’s sick.

“I was really looking forward to racing him in Canada. He was terrific on Saturday (1:50 win over an off-track at Balmoral Park), so I thought he was coming into this race in fine form.”

Only one division will be required for the Cam Fella eliminations with the C$100,000 final scheduled for March 12. St Elmo Hero had drawn the outside post 10 in the 11-horse field.

The elimination will go to post in race six with the following post positions listed below:

1. Sniper Seelster – Paul MacDonell
2. Web Cam – Randy Waples
3. Fitzs Z Tam – Keith Oliver
4. Ideal Gift – Rick Zeron
5. Meirs Hanover – TBA
6. Golden Time – Simon Allard
7. Aled Hanover – TBA
8. Jackets Required – Randy Waples
9. Shiftin Geartogear – Randy Waples
11. Sparky Mark – Mark MacDonald