Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: Lone Sailor getting a shot

Last year, the Oklahoma Derby produced the winner of the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

This year, it could happen again.

Lone Sailor, who captured the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby in a three-way photo Sept. 30, is being considered for the Dirt Mile, trainer Tom Amoss said Monday. The interest in the race comes a year after Battle of Midway parlayed a runner-up finish at Remington Park into Breeders’ Cup paydirt at Del Mar.

Lone Sailor also is under consideration for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Both races are Nov. 3 at the horse’s home track of Churchill Downs. Amoss said plans are to cross-enter the Dirt Mile and Classic.

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“We’ll probably roll the dice, try one of the Breeders’ Cup races,” he said. “We’re looking at the Classic as well as the Dirt Mile. There’s still a lot of moving parts as far as where we end up.

“I realize we’re taking a major step forward here. I can’t emphasize enough what having a killer instinct – as he had in his race in Oklahoma as opposed to his other races leading up to it – has meant to us moving forward. This is what we were waiting for. It was a breakthrough in his understanding of racing, not just for this race, but for the future. It’s exciting.”

Lone Sailor is owned by G M B Racing.

New face from Ohio

Ohio-bred standout Mo Dont No is likely to make his next start in the Dirt Mile, owner Ron Paolucci said Monday.

“We’re probably going to go in that spot, and if not we could go in the Cigar Mile,” he said.

The Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap is Dec. 1 at Aqueduct.

Mo Dont No won the $150,000 Best of Ohio Endurance for the third year in a row Saturday. The race was run at Thistledown.

“He’s never raced outside of Ohio – beaten everybody inside of Ohio,” Paolucci said. “Probably the best race he ever ran was against Awesome Banner at Mahoning Valley [in the $200,000 Steel Valley Sprint]. He rises to the level of horses he runs against.”

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Mo Dont No was a 12-length winner of Saturday’s 1 1/4-mile Endurance for trainer Jeffrey Radosevich. Paolucci said Mo Dont No would probably remain in Ohio, at Mahoning Valley, before shipping to Churchill Downs in time to have one breeze over the track before the Dirt Mile. There is an outside chance he could go in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

As for a rider, Paolucci said it will be someone familiar with Mo Dont No.

“I want somebody who knows this horse, knows how good he is,” he said. “Obviously, he’s a longshot coming from Ohio.”

Trigger Warning joins the fray

Trigger Warning, who was third behind McKinzie and Axelrod in last month’s Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, is headed for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Trainer Mike Rone said Wednesday that he likes the cutback in distance from 1 1/8 miles for Trigger Warning. The horse is a stakes winner at one turn, and this year’s Dirt Mile has the same configuration.

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Trigger Warning is based at Thistledown and is scheduled to work six furlongs at the track on Saturday, said Rone. He said the horse would likely have one additional work before the Breeders’ Cup, and it also would be at home in Ohio.

“He’ll probably go back five-eighths,” said Rone.

Rone said he is working to try and secure Ricardo Santana Jr. to ride Trigger Warning, who races for Brinley Enterprises.

Earlier this year, Trigger Warning finished third by a length in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby and second by a head in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby won by Axelrod.

Patternrecognition to bypass Dirt Mile

Patternrecognition, the winner of the Grade 2 Kelso last month at Belmont Park, is not being pointed for the Dirt Mile, trainer Chad Brown said Wednesday. The horse had his first published work since the Sept. 22 race on Monday, going a half-mile in 48.80 seconds on the training track at Saratoga.

Brown said plans going forward for Patternrecognition have not yet been determined. The horse, who has won his last two starts, races for Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence.

◗ Whitmore earned a Dirt Mile berth for his Forego win at Saratoga, but he could land in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. “We’re looking at both of them, thinking Sprint,” trainer Ron Moquett said Monday. He noted Whitmore could get a better pace setup for his late run in the Sprint.

◗ Plans are to cross-enter Limousine Liberal in the Dirt Mile and BC Sprint, trainer Ben Colebrook said Monday. He said at present he is leaning toward the Sprint.

◗ Pre-entries for the Dirt Mile will be taken Monday. The maximum gate for the one-turn race is 14, according to Breeders’ Cup.