Bright Thought comes into BC Turf in good form

ARCADIA, Calif. – In a year, Bright Thought has gone from being a completely overmatched longshot in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Mile to one with an outsider’s chance for the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

Last year, Bright Thought started in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, his first race since the preceding March. He finished last of 10 behind Wise Dan at 25-1.

On Sunday, Bright Thought won his first stakes in 18 months in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita. The race was run over 1 1/4 miles on turf, slightly shorter than the Breeders’ Cup Turf’s distance of 1 1/2 miles.

Bright Thought will be a longshot against a competitive field of Europeans and New York-based shippers in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, but he will approach the race in his best form in more than a year.

“He’s starting to feel like his old self,” co-owner Alex Venneri said in the winner’s circle Sunday.

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Bright Thought, co-owned by Marjorie Dye, is trained by Phil D’Amato, who has started the 5-year-old twice. Jorge Gutierrez trained Bright Thought for his first start in 2012 and from early February 2013 until this summer. Gutierrez did not have Bright Thought for part of 2012 when the horse was based in the Mid-Atlantic.

For Gutierrez, Bright Thought won the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes over 1 1/2 miles on turf at Santa Anita in March 2013, his first stakes win. In addition to the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Mile, Bright Thought was aggressively campaigned in other leading races, finishing last of seven in the Grade 2 Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park last November and ninth of 10 in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs last May.

Venneri sent Bright Thought to D’Amato at Del Mar during the summer. “I thought it was time to try something new,” Venneri said.

In his first start for D’Amato, Bright Thought finished third to stablemate Big John B in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 23. D’Amato said Bright Thought thrived in September with a less-stringent training schedule. The result Sunday gives Venneri a reason to try the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

“We felt he would run his biggest race today,” he said Sunday. “We’ll give it a run. I like my chances.”

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D’Amato, who took over a stable from his longtime boss, Mike Mitchell, this year, said Sunday that Big John B will run in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Big John B closed from last in the John Henry to finish 2 1/4 lengths behind Bright Thought.

They will meet a Breeders’ Cup Turf field led by the Europeans Flintshire, Magician, and Telescope, and a group of New York-based runners expected to include Imagining, Main Sequence, and Twilight Eclipse.

The Breeders’ Cup Turf will be a tough race for Bright Thought to win, but approaching the race following a stakes win justifies his appearance.