Dr. Schivel ends layoff, preps for True North with easy allowance triumph

ARCADIA, Calif. - The two-time Grade 1 winner Dr. Schivel returned from a layoff of more than 13 months to easily beat two rivals in an allowance race at Santa Anita on Saturday, a victory that in one regard took the 5-year-old’s career to a new level.

Dr. Schivel ran six furlongs in 1:09.19, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 105.

The win served as a prep for the Grade 2 True North Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Belmont Park on June 10. The $250,000 True North will be on the undercard of the Belmont Stakes, and is expected to draw a strong field of sprinters.

Dr. Schivel ($3) led throughout Saturday’s allowance race, finishing 4 1/4 lengths in front of C Z Rocket, who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland last November. Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Dr. Schivel set early fractions of 22.58 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.71 for a half-mile before pulling clear.

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“You never know how a horse will come back,” trainer Mark Glatt said on Sunday. “I figured he’d win, but I didn’t think he would do it quite so easily. He always runs good fresh.”

Owned by the partnership of Red Baron’s Barn, Rancho Temescal, Reeves Thoroughbreds and William Branch, Dr. Schivel has won 6 of 11 starts and earned $1,119,100.

The allowance race was Dr. Schivel’s first start since a third in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen Sprint in Dubai in March 2022. Dr. Schivel was sidelined last year with bone bruising.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Schivel won the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity in 2020, and the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar in 2021. Later in 2021, Dr. Schivel was beaten a nose in the BC Sprint at Del Mar.

The $400,000 Bing Crosby Stakes on July 29 is a long-range goal for Dr. Schivel.

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