Biancone will let Ball Four tell him what to do

The 8-year-old Ball Four had just a two-race schedule in 2007 before making three starts in 2008. This year he might even stretch that to four races.

Trainer Patrick Biancone said Tuesday that Ball Four could start in the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita, provided he trains well in the weeks ahead. Monday marked his first breeze that goal, a half-mile breeze in 48 seconds at Santa Anita.

"He has old legs, you know," said Biancone. "We'll let him talk to us."

Unraced since finishing sixth in the Grade 2 Californian on June 13, Ball Four would be racing without a prep if he does makes the Dirt Mile.

He has run some of his best races following layoffs and over synthetic tracks, such as when he won the Kentucky Cup Classic in September 2006 over Turfway's Polytrack, and the Grade 2 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap over the Cushion Track surface at Hollywood Park this May.

"He loves to be fresh," Biancone said.

Ball Four could add to a solid cast of Breeders' Cup hopefuls for Biancone. They would be his first Breeders' Cup starters since the Kentucky Racing Commission suspended him for a year in the fall of 2007 for finding three vials of cobra venom in his barn.

In October 2007, Nownownow, a horse trained by Biancone for much of his 2-year-old year, won the inaugural Juvenile Turf in the name of his assistant trainer, Francois Parisel, while Biancone was beginning his suspension.

Other likely Breeders' Cup starters this year for Biancone include Pulsion for the Juvenile, Zip Quick for the Juvenile Turf, and perhaps Allicansayis Wow for the Ladies Classic. Allicansayis Wow is also being considered for Saturday's Oak Tree Mile at Santa Anita, Biancone said.