Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: Pants On Fire drills

Pants On Fire, one of the many viable contenders in a wide-open renewal of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, had his final prerace work when going a half-mile Friday in 48 seconds at his Monmouth Park base.

“I caught him going out five-eighths in a minute flat,” trainer Kelly Breen said. “He did everything the right way. I’m very happy with him.”

Pants On Fire has really come to hand in his last two starts, winning the Grade 2 Monmouth Cup and the Grade 3 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old horse is booked on a Sunday charter to California.

Breen, whose biggest win came with Ruler On Ice in the 2011 Belmont Stakes, has had three previous Breeders’ Cup starters, with a third-place finish from Ruler On Ice in the 2011 Classic at Churchill being his best.

Several other Dirt Mile pre-entrants had their final prerace works Friday, including Goldencents, five furlongs in 58.40 seconds at Santa Anita; Brujo de Olleros, seven furlongs in 1:26.60 at Fair Hill in Maryland; and Laugh Track (third alternate), five furlongs in 1:01.60 at Churchill.