2021 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: Plainsman, Snapper Sinclair climb aboard
Knicks Go has developed from a dirt miler into a top contender for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, negating any chance of defending his title in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. So when his trainer, Brad Cox, was asked last week if he thought he’d have anything for the race, he said he doubted it.
That all changed Saturday, in the time (1:33.85, to be exact) that it took Plainsman to capture the Grade 3 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs, earning him a spot in the Dirt Mile on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
Plainsman rallied from sixth in the nine-horse field to post a one-length victory over the previously unbeaten Beau Liam in the one-turn Ack Ack. The win was the eighth in 25 starts for Plainsman, 6, who would be making his first appearance in a Breeders’ Cup race.
By contrast, Snapper Sinclair, also 6, is now scheduled to make his third appearance in a Breeders’ Cup race – something he does every other year – after an unlucky second in the Grade 2 Eddie D last Friday at Santa Anita. Snapper Sinclair is proficient on both turf and dirt, and his connections indicated he will be pre-entered in both the Mile on turf – which figures to oversubscribe – and the Dirt Mile, a race in which he finished fourth at Santa Anita in 2019. Snapper Sinclair was 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in 2017 when making the fourth start of a career that now stands at 34 races.
The Dirt Mile has plenty of strength at the top, with the likes of Life Is Good, Silver State, and Ginobili heading the field. But the potential lineup continues to look as though it will come up far short of the maximum of 12. Only a dozen can start in the race, as opposed to 14 in most Breeders’ Cup races, because of the abrupt run to the first turn for a race that’s one lap around Del Mar’s main track.
Notable defections from the race over the past week include By My Standards, who missed the Woodward, and Forza Di Oro, who was fifth of six in the Woodward. He “ran a stinker the other day,” said his trainer, Bill Mott.
Art Collector might have had the Dirt Mile as a fallback position, but Mott said he’s now full steam ahead for the Classic on Nov. 6 following his victory in the Woodward. Stilleto Boy, runner-up in the Awesome Again, also is intended for the Classic, according to trainer Ed Moger; he only has the Dirt Mile as a backup if the Classic winds up with more than the maximum field of 14. The Classic should have a large field, but more than 14 seems doubtful.
Rushie is also not pointing for the Dirt Mile after finishing fourth in the Ack Ack, according to trainer Michael McCarthy.
– additional reporting by Nicole Russo