Ransom the Moon, winner of the Grade 1 Bing Crosby in his last start and one of the top contenders for the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs, will be scratched from the Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes on Saturday at Del Mar to await either the Santa Anita Sprint Championship or the DeFrancis Dash at Laurel, trainer Phil D'Amato said Friday morning.

D'Amato said the "timing is much better" for either of the other races.

"If I run here in a four-horse field, which is what I expect to happen, I don't know what I get out of that, and then where do I go?" D'Amato said, alluding to the expectation that the Pat O'Brien field will be reduced by additional scratches. "If I run in the race I could sit on him for 10 weeks until the Breeders' Cup, or try to squeeze in another race.

"I think that's what got me in trouble last year. We tried to fit in too many races going into the Breeders' Cup. I didn't have a fresh horse."

D'Amato said that if he runs in the DeFrancis, he might be inclined to send Ransom the Moon straight to Churchill Downs to train there straight into the Breeders' Cup.

"If I run in the seven-eighths, it doesn't do anything for me," he said, referring to the Pat O'Brien distance. "It doesn't help me out come Breeders' Cup time."

The decision is terrible timing for jockey Flavien Prat, who opted to ride Ransom the Moon before it was certain that Battle of Midway would enter the Pat O'Brien. The mount on Battle of Midway went to Mario Gutierrez, and now Prat will have to watch the race from the sidelines.