Catapult, Hunt will train up to Breeders' Cup Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. – Top California turf milers Catapult and Hunt will each have his next start in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3, their trainers said Friday.

Hunt earned a fees-paid berth to the BC Mile with his win in the Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita in May. Trainer Phil D’Amato said Hunt may benefit from being trained up to the BC Mile and not having a final prep in Saturday’s Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita.

“He ran his best race fresh,” D’Amato said. “I’m going to take a shot like that and train up to the Breeders’ Cup. I’m going to have him on his toes and run his best race off the bench.”

Hunt fought foot issues in early summer and had a decline in form during the Del Mar meeting, finishing last of 10 in the Eddie Read on July 22 and sixth in the Del Mar Mile on Aug. 19. The foot issue surfaced before the Eddie Read Stakes, D’Amato said.

“I had major foot issues going into the Eddie Read and we ran him in half-plates,” D’Amato said. “Turf horses don’t run well with half-plates. I got his feet just about right, and he ran a creditable race last time, but he was still not 100 percent.”

Owned by Michael House, Hunt has won 9 of 29 starts and earned $909,454. In 2017, Hunt won three Grade 2 races at Del Mar – the Eddie Read Stakes and Del Mar Handicap at the summer meeting, and the Seabiscuit Handicap last fall.

Catapult won the Eddie Read and the Del Mar Mile, but came out of the Del Mar Mile with a sore foot, trainer John Sadler said.

Catapult, owned by Woodford Racing, has won 6 of 15 starts and earned $621,384. A minor stakes winner at Aqueduct in 2016 when trained by Chad Brown, Catapult joined Sadler’s stable earlier this year.

– additional reporting by Brad Free