Breeders' Cup Sprint: Straight No Chaser would join list of repeat winners
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Straight No Chaser will attempt to become just the fourth horse to register back-to-back victories in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. If successful, he will join an exclusive list that includes Midnight Lute (2007-08), Roy H (2017-18), and most recently Elite Power, who captured the Sprint in 2022 and 2023.
Straight No Chaser showed a new dimension when rallying from just off the pace to run down the pacesetting Bentornato and register a half-length victory under jockey John Velazquez in the 2024 Sprint. The same rival may well prove Straight No Chaser’s chief competition again this year.
Trainer Dan Blacker is taking the same path getting Straight No Chaser to the Sprint that he did a year ago. He used the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship as his one and only prep for the Breeders’ Cup following a lengthy hiatus.
Unlike last season, when Straight No Chaser dominated the Santa Anita Sprint Championship by 6 1/4 lengths, he could do no better this year than finish third, beaten two lengths by Imagination. His Beyer Speed Figure was down a significant 10 points, to 93, from the number he earned capturing the race in such impressive fashion last fall.
“The major difference between this year and last when he returned from a layoff to win the Santa Anita Sprint is that he missed a couple of weeks of training at the end of Del Mar due to a skin infection,” said Blacker, who trains Straight No Chaser for My Racehorse. “I think he might have overcome if he had an outside post. The fact he was drawn inside meant he had to take pressure the whole way, set some significant fractions, and it took its toll at the end.”
Blacker said he is quite pleased at how Straight No Chaser has come out of that prep, especially in light of his bullet half-mile work in 47.20 seconds on Sunday at Santa Anita.
“He’s had good energy since his last start, and I feel confident he will come back and run a better race next time,” Blacker said. “I had total confidence in him before the [Breeders’ Cup] Sprint a year ago the way he trained into the race and hopefully everything will go just as smoothly over the next couple of weeks and I’ll feel the same way going into the race again this year.”
As is the case with just about every trainer with a candidate for the Sprint, Blacker will be sweating out the post-position draw.
“Last year, he was fortunate to be drawn outside, which gave him the opportunity to switch off a little early and run the race he did,” Blacker said. “And I’d love for that to be the case again. This horse is such a pro. The Sprint will be his final race, and it would be great if he could cement his legacy by winning it again.”
◗ Lovesick Blues’s final Sprint prep was a bit unorthodox. He finished second, beaten a nose by Man O Rose, going 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf in Saturday’s restricted California Flag Handicap. Lovesick Blues, who carried high weight of 126 pounds, rallied from last to just miss in his first start since earning an automatic bid into the Sprint by virtue of his 1 3/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby on July 26 at Del Mar.
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