Beyond Brilliant shines in City of Hope Mile, but Breeders' Cup is up in the air

ARCADIA, Calif. – Lone front-runner Beyond Brilliant looked like a cinch going into the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile on Saturday at Santa Anita.

The 4-year-old colt looked like it on the racecourse, also. Beyond Brilliant ($3.80) cruised to the lead, relaxed comfortably under jockey Victor Espinoza, and wired the field to win the mile turf race by three-quarters of a length over late-runner Cathkin Peak.

“It doesn’t matter how fast he goes,” Espinoza said about Beyond Brilliant. “As long as he’s relaxing, as long as he’s comfortable.”

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Beyond Brilliant relaxed comfortably, setting fractions of 46.16 and 1:09.37 under a long rein to win in 1:32.61 over a Santa Anita course that produced extremely fast times the first two days of the autumn meet. The key to the race was how well Beyond Brilliant settled.

“Wasn’t that sweet?,” trainer John Shirreffs said afterward. “A nice, long rein. That’s the key.”

Beyond Brilliant, who missed a Grade 3 turf marathon in early September at Del Mar after he wrenched an ankle, was making his first start since July. The win was his fifth from 14 starts, and his third graded stakes. He won the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham in April and Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in November. Owned by Lee and Susan Searing, Beyond Brilliant has earned $706,780.

The significance of the City of Hope Mile is undetermined. Asked about the Breeders’ Cup Mile, a Nov. 5 race at Keeneland in which Beyond Brilliant probably would be a longshot, Shirreffs said, “Let’s wait and see.”

After Beyond Brilliant and Cathkin Peak, the order of finish was Prince Abama, Kanderel, Irideo, and Tarantino.

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