Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: Ack Ack key prep for Awesome Slew

Trainer Mark Casse could be the “Mile Man” of this year’s Breeders’ Cup. He has candidates for all four championship races being run at the distance, including Awesome Slew for the $1 million Dirt Mile on Nov. 3 at Del Mar.

Casse also has World Approval on deck for the $2 million Mile on Nov. 4, while Flameaway could develop into a $1 million Juvenile Turf starter Nov. 3, and Wonder Gadot and/or Miss Mo Mentum could land in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf the same day.

Awesome Slew, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Forego in August at Saratoga, will have his final prep Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs. The one-turn mile will be his springboard to the Dirt Mile, which will be a two-turn race at Del Mar.

“We like the mile more than anything, the distance,” Casse said, “and he has shown that he can win going two turns. So, we think a mile is right in his wheelhouse. It’s not so much the two turns as the distance.”

Awesome Slew is a graded stakes winner at one turn and two, and the son of Awesome Again has earned $893,420 for Live Oak Plantation.

“He’s done a lot of things already, and one thing we’d like to get on his résumé is a Grade 1,” Casse said.

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Casse said the Ack Ack was an appealing prep for Awesome Slew in part because it follows the same prep pattern his barn took ahead of last year’s Breeders’ Cup, where the stable won the Juvenile and finished second in both the Mile and Juvenile Fillies.

“We did it all coming out of Churchill and out of Kentucky, and we kind of wanted to follow the path that had made us successful last year,” Casse said.

Casse said Flameaway is targeting the Bourbon at Keeneland, while Miss Mo Mentum is on deck for that track’s Jessamine. Wonder Gadot is targeting the Mazarine at Woodbine and could go in the Juvenile Fillies or Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Casse has divisions at Churchill and Keeneland. He said Corey Lanerie has the mount on Awesome Slew on Saturday.

Sharp Azteca will enter the Dirt Mile with a good deal of support off his win in the Kelso last weekend at Belmont, but the second- and third-place finishers from that race will not face him in the Breeders’ Cup.

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Divining Rod, who ran second in the Kelso, instead will focus on the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile on Dec. 2 at Aqueduct, trainer Arnaud Delacour said. The horse was second in that race in 2016. Divining Rod had been considered for the Dirt Mile, but Delacour said he feels the horse is at his best at a one-turn mile, which will be the configuration of the Cigar Mile.

Tom’s Ready, third in the Kelso, is not targeting the Dirt Mile, trainer Dallas Stewart said Monday.

◗ Aside from the Ack Ack, the Awesome Again Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita could produce starters for the Dirt Mile.