Breeders' Cup: Muth breezes five furlongs for Dirt Mile
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ARCADIA, Calif. - With National Treasure now out of the Dirt Mile, trainer Bob Baffert will be coming into next weekend’s Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar a bit under the radar with many of his eight starters and he’s not thrilled about it.
“I like to be 1-9,” Baffert said. “There’s room for error. I like blinking lights.”
Baffert is expected to have runners in five of the 14 Breeders’ Cup races including, on Friday, three in the $2 million Juvenile and two in the $2 million Juvenile Fillies. On Saturday, he’ll have three runners - Newgate in the $7 million Classic, Muth in the $1 million Dirt Mile and Pleasant in the $1 million Filly and Mare Sprint.
Muth is one of the more interesting horses in what appears to be a competitive Dirt Mile. Regarded among the top 3-year-olds earlier in the year, Muth was scratched out of the Preakness, for which he was the favorite, when he developed a fever after shipping to Baltimore.
Muth didn’t make it back to the races until Sept. 1, when he won the Shared Belief, a one-mile race for 3-year-olds at Del Mar. Muth came back in the Grade 1 California Crown and finished a well-beaten sixth as the 3-2 favorite.
Baffert blamed that result somewhat on pilot error.
“He wanted to go and [Juan Hernandez] didn’t let him go,” Baffert said. “He took him back and he lost interest. You got to let him run.”
On Saturday, Muth had his final work for the Dirt Mile, breezing five furlongs in 1:00.12, according to the Daily Racing Form. During the rush after the second renovation break, Muth found himself a few lengths behind two runners from the Tim Yakteen barn, including Johannes, who is pointing to the BC Turf Mile.
Muth, under Hernandez, came three wide approaching the quarter pole and finished a couple of lengths in front of that pair at the wire.
“He looked great today, he sat, he relaxed, he let those horses go and he let them finish up,” Baffert said.
Baffert said he debated about whether to run in the Dirt Mile or Classic, but said he was swayed by the strong performance Muth gave in the Shared Belief at a mile
The Dirt Mile is expected to draw a full field of 14. Domestic Product, who was also pre-entered in the Sprint, will run in the Dirt Mile, trainer Chad Brown said.
Dr. Venkman, who worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 at Santa Anita, is going to run in the Sprint. That defection, along with those of National Treasure, Derma Sotogake (Classic), Senor Buscador (Classic), and Fort Bragg (allowance at Santa Anita), opens a spot for Pipeline, who will run in the race with John Velazquez to ride, according to trainer Cherie DeVaux.
Baffert has won the Classic four times. His representative this year will be Newgate, the Santa Anita Handicap winner who, off a six-month layoff, finished third, a head behind Subsanador and National Treasure, in the Grade 1 California Crown at Santa Anita on Sept. 28.
“He got unlucky not to win, he ran so well,” Baffert said. “He’s come back and worked well, I put him in the mix,” Baffert said.
Newgate was scheduled to have his final Classic work on Sunday at Santa Anita.
In addition to Muth, Baffert on Saturday worked 2-year-olds Gaming and Citizen Bull for the Juvenile and Non Compliant for the Juvenile Fillies.
Gaming, the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity winner, worked in company with the Grade 2 Oak Leaf winner Non Compliant, the pair officially going in 1:00.20. They finished together through a final three furlongs in 35.78 seconds.
Citizen Bull, the American Pharoah winner, worked with Cornell, a recent first-level allowance winner, and they were timed in 58.80 seconds, the fastest of 50 works at the distance.
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