Collusion Illusion earns his way to Breeders' Cup Sprint
DEL MAR, Calif. – Last September, Collusion Illusion had trainer Mark Glatt stumped.
After winning the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes for sprinters in his stakes debut at the Del Mar summer meeting, Collusion Illusion was pulled up after fading rapidly on the backstretch in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
Collusion Illusion was walked back to Glatt’s barn, leaving questions surrounding his performance.
Gone was the idea of a start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November at Santa Anita, replaced by a puzzling loss and a plan to give the colt a break over the winter.
“You’re thinking, did I miss something? Is the horse okay?” Glatt recalled over the weekend. “The horse was all right it turned out. We don’t know what happened.
“He wasn’t 100 percent out of the race mentally. I thought, let’s put him away and give him a chance to grow up and everything.”
The colt is more than all right, in fact. Collusion Illusion is unbeaten in three starts this year, including the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes for sprinters last Saturday at Del Mar.
Collusion Illusion earned a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland with the win and gave the 47-year-old Glatt his first victory in a Grade 1.
How Collusion Illusion will be prepared for the BC Sprint is uncertain. Glatt said Sunday that a prep race is likely in early October, pending the release of a stakes schedule at Santa Anita and consultation with owners Dan Agnew, Rodney Orr, Jerry Schneider, and John Xitco.
“I’m inclined to run him once more in between,” Glatt said. “Maybe a month out from the Breeders’ Cup.”
The progress Collusion Illusion has made in recent starts suggests there is potential for greater improvement. Collusion Illusion won his 2020 debut in a second-level allowance race against older horses at six furlongs at Santa Anita in May, a comeback delayed when racing was halted for seven weeks in the spring because of the coronavirus outbreak.
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Collusion Illusion was the easy winner of the Grade 3 Lazaro Barrera Stakes for 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs on June 20 at Santa Anita, which led to the Bing Crosby, where the colt was the 9-5 favorite in a field of eight.
Ridden by Flavien Prat, Collusion Illusion was seventh on the backstretch, racing behind a line of six runners dueling for the lead. Collusion Illusion was closer on the turn. Prat moved Collusion Illusion toward the rail in the final furlong and won by a nose over Lexitonian, who closed from last with a wide rally.
Prat walked back to the jockeys’ room covered in dirt. The Bing Crosby showed Glatt that Collusion Illusion can handle racing behind horses in a top-class stakes. The colt was the only 3-year-old in the Bing Crosby and is now on schedule for a start in the nation’s most prestigious sprint.
The American Pharoah loss now seems like a long time ago.
“In most of his races, he hasn’t had to take a lot of dirt,” Glatt said. “He had to take dirt and ran through the dirt pelting him. It’s good that he passed that test and took a lot of kick back.
“I don’t think he saw that horse on the outside. I think he won easier than the margin indicated, but I’m biased.”