BC Sprint runner-up Dr. Schivel on target for Malibu Stakes
Dr. Schivel, second by a nose in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 6, has resumed training for a final start of the year in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.
There is a likelihood that Dr. Schivel will have a different jockey for the prestigious race, a fixture on the opening day of the track’s winter-spring meeting.
The Malibu field is expected to include the undefeated colt Flightline, who has won two races by a combined 26 lengths in April and September. Flavien Prat has ridden Dr. Schivel and Flightline this year, and trainer Mark Glatt fears Prat could favor Flightline in the Malibu.
“Nothing is etched in stone,” Glatt said. “I might need a new rider.”
Glatt said on Friday that Dr. Schivel did not need much time to recover from the narrow loss in the BC Sprint, the colt’s first defeat in four starts this year.
“I had a week or 10 days or so there when I was light on him, knowing he wasn’t going to run back until the end of December,” Glatt said. “We gave him plenty of time to bounce back. The horse didn’t act like he had run. He stayed good physically and mentally.”
Owned by the partnership of Rancho Temescal, Red Baron’s Barn, Reeves Thoroughbreds, and Bill Branch, Dr. Schivel had two workouts in late November, including a half-mile in 48.20 seconds at Santa Anita on Monday.
The $300,000 Malibu Stakes is run at seven furlongs for 3-year-olds, and will be Dr. Schivel’s first start at the distance since a win in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity in September 2020, his final start for trainer Luis Mendez. Dr. Schivel was transferred to Glatt following that race.
A win in the Malibu would enhance Dr. Schivel’s chances for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding sprinter of 2021. Dr. Schivel won two stakes against older horses earlier this year – the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar in July and the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship in October.
“I would think he could have a shot, but I’m a little biased,” Glatt said of a potential championship.