2021 Breeders' Cup Turf: Astronaut an improving longshot
As recently as 2003, the 1 3/4-mile San Juan Capistrano Handicap at Santa Anita was a Grade 1 worth $400,000. Times sure have changed.
The race is no longer a handicap and was run in June this year as a Grade 3 stakes worth $100,000. The decline is a reflection of fewer stakes-quality turf marathoners over the last two decades in California.
Still, the San Juan Capistrano may have had a revival of sorts this year. The first two finishers – Acclimate and Astronaut – may start in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6.
They have taken vastly different paths to reach this point of their careers.
The lightly raced Astronaut, 4, won a maiden special weight race at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita in March in his fifth start. The colt finished second in two allowance races before finishing second by 3 3/4 lengths to Acclimate in the San Juan Capistrano Stakes on June 19.
Acclimate, 7, is under consideration for the BC Turf, according to trainer Phil D’Amato. A three-time stakes winner, Acclimate, who was ninth in the 2019 BC Turf, was third in the Del Mar Handicap and second by a nose in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita on Oct. 2.
Astronaut may have lost the San Juan Capistrano, but that was the day trainer John Shirreffs and owner John O’Connor began to think the colt had potential.
“When he ran in the San Juan, he showed us a little something then,” Shirreffs said.
Astronaut was the 24-1 upset winner of the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf on Aug. 21, earning a fees-paid berth to the BC Turf. Had Astronaut lost that race, Shirreffs said he would not be running in the BC Turf.
Astronaut was trained by Steve Asmussen as a 2-year-old in 2019 and by Tom Albertrani last year, losing all three starts for them.
Astronaut was sent to Shirreffs last winter. Shirreffs, famous for his work with the 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, has seen all sides of Astronaut’s abilities.
“He doesn’t like to train much,” Shirreffs said. “He goes out there, looks around, gallops a bit and looks around, and gallops a bit.”
Astronaut can be feisty at the barn, too. A few weeks ago at Santa Anita, Astronaut was being hand-walked when he reared up for a few moments, punched at the air with his front legs, and then settled. Shirreffs caught the shenanigans on his mobile phone.
“We’ve figured out ways to get along with him,” Shirreffs said. “That’s him. We don’t want to change his personality. We want to direct it the best way we can.”
Victor Espinoza rode Astronaut in the San Juan and Del Mar Handicap and has the mount in the 1 1/2-mile BC Turf. Astronaut will be a longshot, but several runnings in the last decade of the BC Turf ended with a longshot in the top three.
United, a probable starter for the BC Turf who won the John Henry Turf Championship earlier this month, was a 51-1 runner-up to eventual Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar in the 2019 BC Turf. Little Mike won the 2012 running at 17-1, followed a year later by Magician at 12-1. Talismanic won the 2017 BC Turf at Del Mar at 14-1.
Astronaut is expected to race as a closer. With a favorable journey, he could produce a surprise.
“The race will be about the trip more than anything,” Shirreffs said. “It’s three turns. When he’s run well, he’s put himself in good position, too.”