Alexander considers $100,000 payment to make Lieutenant Dan Breeders' Cup eligible
Lieutenant Dan’s win in Sunday’s Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap for turf sprinters at Del Mar has left owner and breeder Nick Alexander considering a $100,000 gamble this fall.
Lieutenant Dan won the first graded stakes of his career in the $101,500 Green Flash Handicap, leaving Alexander and trainer Steve Miyadi to consider the 5-year-old gelding as a prospect for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 6 at Del Mar. The Green Flash and BC Turf Sprint are run at five furlongs on turf.
Alexander must pay $100,000 to make Lieutenant Dan eligible to the Breeders’ Cup program for the rest of his career since the horse was not nominated as a weanling.
“When I started doing this I never thought I’d have a horse worthy of the Breeders’ Cup,” said Alexander, who has owned racehorses since the late 1970s.
“It makes it kind of fun.”
Lieutenant Dan earned $60,000 from the Green Flash. His next start is expected to be the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes, a $200,000 race at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf Oct. 1 at Santa Anita.
“If he could win the Eddie D, that would pay for it,” Alexander said. “The timing is perfect.”
Alexander has been in this position regarding supplemental nominations with Grazen in 2009 and Pee Wee Reese in 2019, but both were injured before the Breeders’ Cup. Grazen is the sire of Lieutenant Dan. Pee Wee Reese won the Eddie D, but was injured a few weeks later and could not be saved.
“I’d written the check out,” Alexander said.
Lieutenant Dan has won 7 of 15 starts and earned $543,740. In 2019 and 2020, Lieutenant Dan won three stakes for California-breds on turf and dirt. The gelding did not race for more than 13 months, from June 2020 until July 23 for what Alexander described as “front-end issues.”
Lieutenant Dan remained with Miyadi at the racetrack through that time and did not rest at Alexander’s ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley.
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“Steve wouldn’t let me take him home,” Alexander said. “He stayed in the barn. He’s Steve’s favorite horse. On a daily basis, he got the best care.”
Lieutenant Dan won his comeback in an allowance race at five furlongs on turf on July 23 and was even sharper in the Green Flash, winning by 2 1/4 lengths.
“He’s as honest as you can hope for,” Alexander said.