Blackjackcat was part of the Breeders’ Cup show at Santa Anita last year. About 40 minutes after Beholder and Songbird finished a nose apart in the BC Distaff, Blackjackcat was third by a half-length in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby in the day’s final race. A year later, Blackjackcat has a greater role in the Breeders’ Cup program Nov. 4 at Del Mar. The 4-year-old gelding has gone from a bit player in a supporting race to California’s leading hope in the BC Mile. At the beginning of the year, trainer Mark Glatt and owners Al and Sandee Kirkwood had modest goals for Blackjackcat in 2017. They have been replaced by the hope Blackjackcat can pull an upset in the $2 million race. “I was hoping he would be a solid stakes horse around here and could compete,” Glatt said with a smile. “He’s done that.” Blackjackcat has won four consecutive races, including three stakes. He essentially earned a berth in the BC Mile with a victory in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on turf on Aug. 20, his first graded stakes win. On Oct. 7, Blackjackcat won a prep race for the BC Mile in the Obviously Mile at Santa Anita. The BC Mile is the toughest race of Blackjackcat’s career. He faces runners from throughout the nation and Europe. “If there are other horses better than him – and there probably are on paper – he’s got two things going for him,” Glatt said. “In a 14-horse field, he’s got tactical speed. He doesn’t have to be on the lead. He can be two or three lengths off of it. I think that will keep him out of trouble. “The other thing that is a big advantage is he’s 3 for 5 on that turf course. He loves that course.” The Del Mar Mile win, at 8-1, gave Glatt and the Kirkwoods a reason to look toward the Breeders’ Cup. “He had to prove himself and he did,” Glatt said. Glatt, 44, can somewhat relate. Twice in a seven-year period Glatt proved he was fit to be a trainer on both ends of the West Coast. In 1994, the Spokane, Wash., native took over his father Ron’s stable at tiny Yakima Meadows in Washington when Ron Glatt moved to California. Ron Glatt is currently an assistant to trainer Mick Ruis at San Luis Rey Downs training center in San Diego County. At the time, Washington racing was in a transition following the closure of Longacres and the construction of Emerald Downs, which opened in 1996. “My dad decided during that period to come down here,” Glatt said. “It’s amazing, looking back, how little I knew then. You learn. It’s different when Dad isn’t there. “I got off to a good start because he left some good horses with me.” Six years later, Mark Glatt moved to Southern California. “I moved down here permanently before Del Mar in 2000,” he said. That fall, Michigan Bluff gave Glatt his first graded stakes win, in the Grade 3 Hillsborough Handicap at Bay Meadows. Elusive Diva won four stakes and was Glatt’s first graded stakes winner in Southern California, taking the Grade 3 Railbird Stakes at Hollywood Park in 2004. Blackjackcat gave Glatt his first win in a Grade 2 in the Del Mar Mile. Two weeks later, Sharp Samurai won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby for Glatt. Saturday at Santa Anita, Sharp Samurai is a leading contender to win his fourth consecutive stakes in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby. Blackjackcat and Sharp Samurai have led the stable this year. Through Wednesday, Glatt had 48 wins and stable earnings of $2,150,035. Glatt had personal records of 61 wins and earnings of $2,418,453 in 2016. While Glatt may not reach 61 wins this year, he could surpass his earnings from last year, depending on how Blackjackcat and Sharp Samurai run the next two Saturdays. Glatt has had numerous runners in Grade 1 races, notably Big Tiz, who was second in the 2010 Hollywood Starlet, and Elusive Diva, who was third in the 2004 La Brea Stakes. Blackjackcat will be his second starter in a Breeders’ Cup race. La Tee finished 10th at 105-1 in the 2008 BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita. “We gave her a shot,” he recalled. “It didn’t work out all that good.” The outlook is much brighter with Blackjackcat. After the 2016 Twilight Derby, Blackjackcat finished sixth in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby and fifth in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. The Kirkwoods and Glatt decided to give Blackjackcat a winter vacation and avoid what turned out to be a rainy season. “I told them, I think it will give him a chance to get stronger and put some weight on,” Glatt said. “When he came back, he was 100 to 150 pounds heavier. He’s maintained his weight as we trained him and got better.” Blackjackcat resumed racing in May. His four-race win streak began in an optional claimer in early July, and the first stakes win in the streak came in the restricted Wickerr Stakes on July 23 at Del Mar. “I knew he was coming into his own,” Glatt said. “It’s hard to put together that many wins in a row.”