Bracket Buster pointed to Parx Dirt Mile

Bracket Buster ran so well returning from a nine-month layoff Aug. 9 in the West Virginia Governor’s Stakes that he forced trainer Vicki Oliver to alter plans.

Oliver thought the $1 million Charles Town Classic on Aug. 28 might prove a good spot for Bracket Buster’s second race after his long break – until Bracket Buster won by 15 lengths with a 108 Beyer Speed Figure last weekend.

“He came out of it great and looks really good, but because of the effort he ran, it’s coming back too quick at Charles Town,” Oliver said.

Oliver said she’ll aim Bracket Buster at the $300,000 Parx Dirt Mile on Sept. 19, then hopes to run him at his home track, Keeneland, in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Bracket Buster finished a distant second behind Sovereignty last summer in the 1 1/4-mile Travers, and even 1 1/8 miles, Oliver believes, stretches him.

“A mile to a mile and a sixteenth – that’s his best distance, I think,” Oliver said.

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