Breeders' Cup Mile: ‘Oscar' buzz in the air

The Breeders’ Cup Mile lost two key players on Sept. 15 but gained another the same day.

In Ireland, the imposing filly Alpha Centauri, whose connections long had harbored designs on the Mile, suffered a career-ending injury finishing second to Laurens in the Matron Stakes. On the same program, Saxon Warrior raced for the final time finishing second to Roaring Lion in the Irish Champion Stakes. Both horses were retired the following day.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2018: See DRF’s top contenders

While horses were going off the rails in Ireland, Oscar Performance was getting back on track in Canada. Pulled up late in the Arlington Million on Aug. 11, Oscar Performance – cleared by veterinarians to resume training days after the Million – bounced strongly back to form winning the Woodbine Mile, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race giving him automatic fees-paid entry into the Mile.

Oscar Performance during his 3-year-old campaign of 2017 was kept to races at 1 1/16 miles and longer and concluded his season with ninth-place finish going 1 1/2 miles in the BC Turf. In his belated 2018 debut, Oscar Performance won the Grade 3 Poker on June 17 at Belmont cutting back to a mile, and his sizzling finish at Woodbine signaled that trainer Brian Lynch has found Oscar Performance’s sweet spot.

Oscar Performance heads to Churchill Downs with a chance to become the first winner of the BC Juvenile Turf, which he captured in 2016 at Santa Anita, to win a second Breeders’ Cup race, while Lynch will have a second Mile starter if Heart to Heart returns to his form Oct. 6 at Keeneland in the Shadwell Turf Mile, part of the BC Challenge series. Heart to Heart, a subpar fifth last out in the Fourstardave at Saratoga, was second in the 2017 Shadwell before contesting a brutal pace and fading to 10th in the BC Mile at Del Mar.

:: Breeders' Cup PP packages: Get PPs, betting strategies, DRF+ Pro access, and more

Most of the BC Challenge winners in the Mile division either have been injured or simply don’t have the Mile on their agenda, but Lightning Spear, a Challenge winner in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood in England, could participate. Lightning Spear is likely to start next in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, part of the Champions card Oct. 20 at Ascot.

The QE II is one of several potentially key Mile races upcoming overseas. The Prix de la Foret on Oct. 7 at Longchamp might include the 3-year-old filly Polydream and the 3-year-old colt Expert Eye, whose connections have expressed Breeders’ Cup interest. Recoletos, who won the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, a race in which Expert Eye was third, also could surface in the QE II, while the Moulin fourth-place finisher, Plumatic, could use the Prix Daniel Wildenstein at Longchamp as a BC Mile prep.

Two more Europeans, Suedois and Stormy Antarctic, might start in the Shadwell Turf Mile. Suedois won the race last year before finishing fourth in the BC Mile, while Stormy Antarctic ran a fine third in the Woodbine Mile, his North American debut.

Laurens won a BC Challenge race for the Filly and Mare Turf when she beat Alpha Centauri in the Matron but might also be a candidate for the Mile if her connections elect to keep her in shorter races. Laurens is expected to start in the Sun Chariot Stakes on Oct. 6 at Newmarket.

:: Breeders’ Cup Challenge: Results, replays, charts, and more