BC Dirt Mile: Golden rail for Goldencents

ARCADIA, Calif. – As if he needed anything else in his favor, Goldencents was assigned the favorable rail post when a field of 10 older horses was drawn Monday afternoon at Santa Anita for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Goldencents, a front-running winner of the 2013 Dirt Mile by 2 3/4 lengths, might well be the heaviest favorite in any of the 13 Breeders’ Cup races this weekend. Rafael Bejarano has a return call on Goldencents for Leandro Mora, in whose name the 4-year-old colt will be competeing with his regular trainer, Doug O’Neill, under suspension.

Golden Ticket, the 2013 runner-up, also is back for the Dirt Mile, which is one of four Breeders' Cup races Friday.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2014: Post positions and odds

From the rail, this is the lineup for the BC Dirt Mile, which is set for 3:05 p.m. Pacific: Goldencents, Carve, Vicar’s in Trouble, Pants On Fire, Handsome Mike, Golden Ticket, Bronzo, Fed Biz, Tapiture, and Big Bane Theory.

Goldencents is exiting three straight sprints and therefore figures to show the kind of speed he used last year in quickly getting clear. The main challenging speed against him in this renewal looks to be Vicar’s in Trouble, one of two 3-year-olds in the field along with Tapiture.

One of the fringe players is Pants On Fire, seventh in this race last year. Paco Lopez has a return call for trainer Kelly Breen.

“We’re out of a shorter race, too, so maybe we can emulate Goldencents and get a good position early and out-kick him,” said Breen. “My horse is in the best form of his life right now.”

The Dirt Mile was first run in 2007 at Monmouth Park, where it was run at a mile and 70 yards. The distance for this race next year has yet to be determined, since the host track, Keeneland, is not configured to accommodate a one-mile race on dirt. Rogers Beasley, director of racing for Keeneland, said it will be run around two turns at 1 1/16 miles or at the one-turn Beard Course distance of seven furlongs and 184 feet.