Nutella Fella, the upset winner of the 2023 Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, is attempting another comeback.
Unraced since finishing fourth in the Grade 3 True North at Saratoga on June 7, Nutella Fella is being pointed to the Grade 3, $175,000 Bold Ruler Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 2. On Saturday at Saratoga, Nutella Fella worked a half-mile in 49.02 seconds over the Oklahoma training track, his fourth work since Sept. 20.
Trainer Gary Contessa said that Nutella Fella emerged from the True North with a foot abscess “that was deep embedded in his foot.”
“We thought he was foundering. He was lame as lame could be,” added Contessa. “It probably took us a solid month, month and a half to straighten out his foot. Once we did, smooth sailing. We lost a lot of time with him. We lost a lot of fitness. Now he is perfect. He is back on track.”
At 2, after his 54-1 win in the Hopeful and while training toward a start in the Grade 1 Champagne, Nutella Fella was sidelined by a hairline fracture in his left hind ankle. At 3, after a third-place finish to Book’em Danno in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens, Nutella Fella had bone bruising in his hind left ankle that sidelined him for the remainder of the year.
In four starts this year, Nutella Fella won the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in February. Following the Bold Ruler, Contessa said he would like to run Nutella Fella in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream on Dec. 27.
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