Trainer Jonathan Sheppard entered Ever So Lucky in Saturday's Grade II Hutcheson Stakes, but he might be scratched.

“I expect we’ll end up running him,” Sheppard said today. “The horse is doing wonderfully."

But Sheppard raised the possibility that he could hold Ever So Lucky out of the Hutcheson. In the event that Ever So Lucky does not run, his 2012 debut could be delayed by a month.

“I might just wait for the Swale Stakes – same distance, same purse. Most of the other graded stakes are all too long. I don’t particularly want to bring him back at a longer distance,” Sheppard said. “But we’ll see.”

Sheppard’s confidence in Ever So Lucky’s preparedness for the Hutcheson was shaken slightly by a five-furlong workout in 1:01.75 over a sloppy track Monday morning.

“It was too slow. I think the horse needed one more good work,” he said. “I mean, it was better than nothing, but it didn’t prove much.”

Ever So Lucky was timed in 59.20 seconds for five furlongs under Julien Leparoux in his previous workout.

“The horse wasn’t even blowing after the work,” Sheppard said. “When he worked the previous time, he worked in company. Julien had to ride him a little bit to catch up. The horse got something out of it, and I wanted something similar. This time, for some reason, I decided to work him alone.”

Ever So Lucky has run only twice, both times at Churchill Downs, including a 3 1/4-length maiden romp at 6 1/2 furlongs on Nov. 11 and a runner-up finish behind Gemologist in the 1 1/16-mile, Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club two weeks later.

--Edited Gulfstream Park release