Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile: Goldencents, Centralinteligence re-routed to race

Despite the announcement of Liaison’s retirement earlier in the week, this year’s Dirt Mile should have little trouble matching its six-year average of a 10-horse field, and may exceed that number. There is no imposing standout, and it historically has been a terrific place to take a shot. Favorites have been shut out, and other than Discreet Cat’s third-place finish in the inaugural running, no post-time choice has finished in the money, with the average winner going off at just over 15-1.

Goldencents, who finished strongly but fell a half-length short of Points Offthebench in last Saturday’s Santa Anita Sprint Championship at six furlongs, will forgo the Sprint in favor of the Dirt Mile, trainer Doug O’Neill confirmed. In a losing cause, Goldencents earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 109, which slightly exceeds the 107.5 average of the six previous Dirt Mile winners.

“It doesn’t seem like he is a sprinter,” assistant trainer Leandro Mora said. “Even Rafael [Bejarano] said, ‘Please, let’s go longer.’ ”

Centralinteligence, who trailed early and finished next-to-last in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, also has been re-routed to the Dirt Mile, for which he earned a fees-paid berth by winning the Triple Bend Handicap in June.

Bob Baffert lost Liaison to the breeding shed, but in addition to Fed Biz, who won his way in by taking the Pat O’Brien, he might have another Dirt Mile contender in Power Broker, who last Saturday became the trainer’s third Indiana Derby winner in the past five years.

Caleb’s Posse came out of a third-place finish in the Indiana Derby to win the 2011 Dirt Mile.

Making his first start since a runner-up finish to Dirt Mile-bound Verrazano in the Haskell Invitational, Power Broker wore down the leaders after being guided off a deep rail by Martin Garcia, improving to 3 for 3 on wet tracks.

“I explained to [Garcia] that whatever you have to do to get him off the rail, do it,” said assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes, who saddled the 3-year-old. “We expect him to mature a little bit because he is pretty lightly raced.”

Power Broker has only one win on a fast track, a maiden-breaking triumph in the Grade 1 FrontRunner, which came right before an impossibly wide trip in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Also last Saturday, Pants On Fire drilled a half-mile in a bullet 46.20 seconds at Monmouth, the fastest of 21 workouts at the distance. It was the 5-year-old’s second sharp workout since a career-best effort to win the Ack Ack, which marked his first start at Churchill Downs since a ninth-place finish as second choice in the 2011 Kentucky Derby. “I think he redeemed himself … we’re happy that the Kentuckians got to cash a ticket on him,” trainer Kelly Breen said.

Verrazano worked Saturday as well, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.26 at Belmont while once again in company with stablemate Capo Bastone, who is headed to the Turf Sprint.