Collusion Illusion added to star-studded cast in Malibu

The Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Dec. 26, which already had a number of top-class 3-year-olds pointing to it, picked up another candidate Friday, when trainer Mark Glatt said that was the next likely spot for Collusion Illusion, who is back home at Santa Anita after finishing 12th last weekend in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland.

“That seems like the obvious choice – last 3-year-old race of the year, Grade 1, makes perfect sense for him,” Glatt said.

Collusion Illusion disappointed in the Breeders’ Cup, in which he drew an inside post. He won the Grade 1 Bing Crosby at Del Mar and was third in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship in his two starts prior to the Breeders’ Cup.

The Malibu, at seven furlongs, is shaping up as a sensational race. The fast, unbeaten Nashville, a minor stakes winner on the Breeders’ Cup Saturday undercard, is scheduled to head west for trainer Steve Asmussen. Charlatan, idle since finishing first in a division of the Arkansas Derby, is slated to make his comeback in the Malibu for trainer Bob Baffert. And Independence Hall is ticketed for the Malibu after winning an allowance race last weekend at Del Mar in his first start off a layoff and his first since moving to trainer Michael McCarthy.