Bronzo carries Chile's hopes in BC Dirt Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. – Among the more obscure Breeders’ Cup entrants this year is a 5-year-old Chilean-bred named Bronzo, who figures as one of the longer shots behind Goldencents in the BC Dirt Mile.

But back in his homeland, Bronzo is very well known. When the BC Dirt Mile is run at 3:05 p.m. Pacific on Friday at Santa Anita, thousands of fans will be watching via simulcast in Santiago, Chile, and rooting for Bronzo.

“We are living a dream being here,” said Jorge Inda, the 33-year-old trainer of Bronzo.

Bronzo, a son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, earned the lone Chilean berth granted through the Win and You’re In program by capturing the June 27 Copa de Oro at the Club Hipico in Santiago. Shortly after, he was flown to the United States and placed in quarantine for about a week, with his diet restricted, Inda said.

The horse “lost some weight and needed to get his strength back up,” Inda said.

Bronzo shows six workouts at Santa Anita since Sept. 9, the latest being a half-mile drill Oct. 17.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2014: See DRF’s top contenders

“We have him ready,” Inda said Sunday at the horse’s stall on the Santa Anita shed row of Neil Drysdale, the Hall of Fame trainer with whom the horse might remain following the Breeders’ Cup.

Inda hails from a major racing family in Chile and is the nephew of Eduardo Inda, who first made his name in California as an assistant to Ron McAnally during the heydays of South American imports Bayakoa and Paseana. Eduardo Inda was the trainer of three Breeders’ Cup starters, most notably Riboletta, the beaten odds-on favorite in the 2000 BC Distaff. His last career starter was in 2012.

Luis Torres, who has ridden Bronzo in his last three races, has the Breeders’ Cup mount.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Bronzo earned the sole South American berth in the Win and You're In program. He earned the only berth available in Chile.