Dr. Schivel may go from Del Mar Futurity straight to BC Juvenile

DEL MAR, Calif. – Dr. Schivel on Tuesday made the walk from the barn of his original trainer, Luis Mendez, over to the far northeast corner of the stable area at Del Mar, where Mark Glatt is based. Glatt now takes over as the trainer of the newly minted Grade 1 winner of the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity on Monday, and in coming weeks will map out a plan to get him to his main goal this fall, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 6 at Keeneland.

It's not impossible that the Juvenile will be the first start for Glatt.

Dr. Schivel has raced four times since his debut on June 21. The major West Coast prep for the Juvenile is the American Pharoah at Santa Anita on Sept. 26, which would require Dr. Schivel to come back less than three weeks.

“He’s had a fair amount of races,” Glatt said Tuesday morning. “It’s hard to get too far ahead making plans until we see how he bounces back from the race. We’ll sit down and start strategizing. But I don’t know that there’s time to squeeze another race into him between now and the Breeders’ Cup. That’s a lot of racing. I may just train him up to the race.”

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The stakes schedule for the 2-year-old division on this circuit is also potentially working against Dr. Schivel. Owing to Labor Day falling on Sept. 7, the closing-day Futurity was run on the latest day it could. The Breeders’ Cup is later than usual, too. But the way the stakes schedule is arranged at Santa Anita, the American Pharoah comes up just 19 days after the Del Mar Futurity, and is 41 days in front of the Juvenile.

Had the American Pharoah been scheduled this year for one week later, Oct. 3, it would have allowed 26 days following the Del Mar Futurity and then 34 days to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Compare that to the schedule for the Classic division, for older horses, with the Pacific Classic at Del Mar having been run 35 days in front of the Awesome Again Sept. 26 at Santa Anita, and the Classic Nov. 7 at Keeneland 42 days later.

Dr. Schivel, a son of Violence, got a Beyer Speed Figure of 74 in the Del Mar Futurity, which he won by 1 3/4 lengths over Spielberg.

Dr. Schivel won a maiden race earlier in the meet in his third start. In the weeks leading up to the Futurity, a majority interest in Dr. Schivel was privately purchased by a partnership of Tim Cohen’s Rancho Temescal, his father Jed Cohen’s Red Baron’s Barn, and Dean Reeves. Bill Branch, one of the co-owners and co-breeders of Dr. Schivel, stayed in, but the other co-owner and co-breeder, Arnold Hill, sold his percentage.

Glatt was instrumental in the acquisition. He had been impressed with the way Dr. Schivel performed in his debut back in June at Santa Anita, and had suggested to Tim Cohen that the colt was worth pursuing for owners he knew would sell, for the right price.

“His first race, I thought he encountered a lot of trouble, and showed a lot of grit and determination,” Glatt said. “Very rarely do you see 2-year-olds that run on when they encounter trouble first time out. They hang it up. He was very willing. That determination made him interesting.

“Jed and Tim are always looking to add to their stable, and have told all their trainers to keep an eye out. I’ve trained for Bill Branch, and trained a couple horses out of the mare, so I was familiar with the family. Bill is always open to a partnership, and he’s had horses turned out at the Cohens’ ranch, so they had a relationship. It was kind of a perfect storm.”

Glatt also suggested trying to acquire Dr. Schivel after his second start. It was only after the third start, the maiden win here, that Tim Cohen said, “We kind of got the picture.”

Owing to the sale not being finalized until the week of the Futurity, the new owners agreed to leave the horse with Mendez and have Glatt take over after the race. Dr. Schivel did provide Mendez with his first Grade 1 win.