Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: Preakness winner National Treasure worked way into field
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Cody’s Wish will have to contend with at least one 3-year-old classic winner when he defends his title in next month’s Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, which drew 15 pre-entries on Monday.
Preakness winner National Treasure is being pointed for the Nov. 4 race at Santa Anita, according to trainer Bob Baffert.
Kentucky Derby winner Mage also was pre-entered in the Dirt Mile, but his connections made the race their non-binding second preference behind the Classic, which he will be able to get into when final Breeders’ Cup entries are taken Monday.
The Dirt Mile field will be limited to 12 starters and is expected to include Algiers, Dreamlike, Practical Move, Skippylongstocking, and Zozos. The race is the second preference for six pre-entrants, including Bright Future, Charge It, and Senor Buscador, who all will be able to get into their first preference, the Classic. The Dirt Mile also is the second preference for Three Technique and American Theorem, who will be able to get into their first preference, the Sprint.
Stage Raider, American Theorem, and Shirl’s Bee were not selected into the Dirt Mile field, but are likely to secure a spot if most of the preferences hold Monday. If all preferences hold, there could be a final field of nine for the Dirt Mile.
National Treasure put himself in the Dirt Mile picture with an Oct. 20 work at Santa Anita, according to Baffert. The horse went a half-mile in a bullet 46.20 seconds.
“I breezed him the other day and I loved the way he breezed,” Baffert said earlier this week. “I think shortening up will help him. I always feel like they’re doing well if they’re breezing well. I think he looks great.”
National Treasure will be cutting back from a fourth-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Awesome Again
“He didn’t break well,” Baffert said. “He was behind, made a little move there like he was going to do something, then flattened out. He got a little tired. He bounced out of it very well.
“He tipped me off in his work. I was impressed with his work.”
Baffert said Flavien Prat has the mount in the Breeders’ Cup – a hometown event for National Treasure.
“It’s nice being a couple hundred yards from the paddock,” said Baffert.
New York-based Cody’s Wish was scheduled to travel to Santa Anita on Wednesday, said trainer Bill Mott. The horse will be making his first start in Southern California.
“He’ll most likely work out there,” Mott said earlier this week.
Cody’s Wish – who has won races at six different tracks – is closing out his career in the Dirt Mile. He’s the 2-1 early favorite on Brad Free’s line for Daily Racing Form and is as popular for his success on the track as he is for his relationship with namesake Cody Dorman, a teenager born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome.
“A lot of people in racing latched on to the story,” Mott said. “I think it’s a heartfelt story. It’s a positive story, shows a little goodwill between a horse and a boy.
“Of course, the horse has been very good to the stable. From just the racing aspect, he’s had a very successful career.”
Mott likes how Cody’s Wish – who is unbeaten in seven starts at a mile – is coming into this year’s Breeders’ Cup. He noted Cody’s Wish has won a pair of Grade 1 races this year, the Met Mile with a Beyer Speed Figure of 112 and the Churchill Downs.
Junior Alvarado has the mount in the Dirt Mile.
Dreamlike will bring the field’s best last-race Beyer, a 104, into the Dirt Mile. He earned it for his runner-up finish in the Pennsylvania Derby.
“I thought it was a big effort,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “He’s shown a lot of talent.”
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