Breeders' Cup Mile: Mondialiste likely to take a second crack at race

Trainer David O’Meara has confirmed that Mondialiste will be cross-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Mile and Breeders’ Cup Turf but said the Mile remains the most likely target.

Mondialiste won the Arlington Million, a Win and You’re In race offering a fees-paid berth in the Turf. But Mondialiste is a 6-year-old with 22 starts, a miler who never has raced farther than 1 1/4 miles, and it seems late in the game to stretch him out to 1 1/2 miles.

“He will be cross-entered, but I suppose at the moment, the Mile might be the preference,” O’Meara said. “He has a free entry into the Turf because of the Million, so we’ll enter and have a look at it. The mile would probably be the safest bet.”

Mondialiste, bred by the Wertheimer brothers and trained by Freddie Head early in his career, was sold before his 2015 campaign and emerged from relative obscurity to win the Woodbine Mile and finish a strong second to Tepin in the 2015 BC Mile. He struggled mightily in his next three races but came back into form this summer. Mondialiste traveled again from England to finish fourth in the Shadwell Turf Mile, beaten just 1 1/2 lengths while closing into a slow pace.

“They went too slow for him, going the first half in 49 [seconds],” said O’Meara. “His form this year is probably as good as last year.”

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O’Meara said he was uncertain how Mondialiste would handle the extremely fast-playing turf course at Santa Anita, but Mondialiste has carried his form across various turf conditions. Mondialiste will have his final pre-Breeders’ Cup work late next week before shipping to Santa Anita on Oct. 29.

◗ Trainer Ken Black said What a View, eighth in the Shadwell Turf Mile while making his first start in six months, remains on track for the Mile.

What a View prefers to race on or near the pace but was taken back off a slow early and middle tempo in the Shadwell and had little stretch punch, though he was beaten only 3 1/2 lengths by the victorious Miss Temple City. What a View has won all five of his turf starts at Santa Anita, though he has yet to race on the new course put into use this fall, and captured the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile by almost four lengths.

“The horse couldn’t be training any better,” said Black. “He actually seems to have put on a few pounds after the trip to Kentucky.”

Black said What a View will have a new jockey in his next start.

◗ None of the top finishers in Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in England will come for the Mile, but Alice Springs, who was held out of the QE II, remains on track to start. And it is looking more and more likely that Limato, the sharp winner of the Prix de la Foret last out, will wind up in the Mile rather than the Turf Sprint.