City of Hope Mile win makes True Valour a Breeders' Cup Mile contender

ARCADIA, Calif. – At least four runners from Saturday’s Grade 2 City of Hope Mile on turf at Santa Anita are hopefuls for the Breeders’ Cup Mile here Nov. 2 – race winner True Valour, Prince Earl, Catapult, and Bolo.

If the race oversubscribes when pre-entries are taken Oct. 21, a Breeders’ Cup selection committee will have the final say as to how many of them are part of the field of 14.

Bolo, who finished 10th of 11 in the City of Hope Mile, is guaranteed a berth, having won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile here in May.

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Bolo was fourth in the first half-mile of the City of Hope Mile before fading through the stretch.

“That’s a mystery,” trainer Carla Gaines said of the performance. “He never picked up the bit.”

True Valour won the City of Hope Mile in a 16-1 upset in his first start since a win in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes here in February and a subsequent 60-day break in the early spring.

The BC Mile would be True Valour’s first start in a Grade 1 race. Owned by Qatar Racing, True Valour was a Group 3 winner in Ireland last year before joining trainer Simon Callaghan’s stable.

“It’s here and he’s shown a pretty good affinity for the track as far as his last two races. We have plans for [the Breeders' Cup Mile]," Callaghan said.

In the City of Hope Mile, True Valour ($35.80) finished a head in front of 43-1 Restrainedvengence, who was a nose in front of 5-2 favorite Prince Earl. The first eight finishers were separated by 1 1/2 lengths.

Restrainedvengence will be considered for several races, trainer Val Brinkerhoff said, including two races at 1 1/16 miles on Nov. 30 – the Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap on the synthetic main track at Golden Gate Fields and the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap on turf at Del Mar.

The BC Mile is not in the plans for Restrainedvengence, but could be on the schedule of Catapult, who was sixth in the City of Hope Mile, beaten a length. Catapult was second in the 2018 BC Mile at Churchill Downs.

Prince Earl, winner of the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile in August in his first start of 2019, is an intended runner in the BC Mile, if he can gain a berth.

“We’ll try get him in there,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “I still think he’s that kind of horse.”