Dr. Venkman targets Santa Anita Sprint Championship with eye on Breeders' Cup

ARCADIA, Calif. – Ten furlongs was too far for Dr. Venkman last out: he finished fourth as the even-money favorite in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar. The question now is if six furlongs at Santa Anita is too short.

Dr. Venkman will shorten in distance and return to one turn for the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Sunday, Sept. 28, a six-furlong race trainer Mark Glatt hopes can move him toward the Breeders’ Cup.

“I felt like the (Santa Anita) Sprint could either put him in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, or it would be good to sharpen him up with a sprint that could maybe put him in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile,” Glatt said.

Dr. Venkman is expected to work Monday at Santa Anita. It will be his first work since he missed by three lengths in the Pacific Classic on Aug. 31. Dr. Venkman previously won the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles, after finishing second in two seven-furlong stakes.

A gelding by Ghostzapper, Dr. Venkman has three wins and two seconds from six starts but has never raced at the short distance of six furlongs. He is likely to be outrun early, and rally late.

“Right now, based on (nominations) in the sprint, the race is loaded with a ton of speed,” Glatt said. “That might bode well for him.” Antonio Fresu will ride Dr. Venkman.

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The Santa Anita Sprint is expected to include front-runners Speed Boat Beach and For All Mankind. Speed Boat Beach, unraced since he won the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26, worked six furlongs from the gate in 1:12.20 on Saturday with jockey Juan Hernandez. For All Mankind, who wired an entry-level allowance in his Aug. 10 comeback, worked Saturday in 59.20, the fastest five-furlong work of the day.

Laprida out with injury

Jockey Jeremy Laprida will be sidelined until late fall after sustaining an arm injury when he was unseated in the fourth race at Los Alamitos on Friday.

Laprida, riding Tiger Strength, lost his right iron shortly after the start and could not maintain his balance. Tiger Strength ran loose and was caught by an outrider.

Laprida will need a lengthy period to recover, according to his agent, Patty Sterling.

“It could be two or three months,” Sterling said on Sunday.

A native of Chile, Laprida, 29, has won 23 starts from 298 mounts this year, riding primarily in Southern California and Pennsylvania.

Harvey receives suspension

Jockey Barrington Harvey has been fined $500 and suspended three racing days for an egregious violation of whip rules in Saturday’s seventh race at Los Alamitos.

Harvey, 61, was cited for striking race winner Smarty Nose 12 times, or six times over the limit. Because Harvey used his whip so excessively over the permitted level, the case will be referred to the California Horse Racing Board and is likely to result in Smarty Nose being disqualified from the purse money, according to Los Alamitos stewards.

No pari-mutuel payoffs will be affected if a disqualification occurs.

There is a precedent in California for horses being disqualified from purse money after a rider excessively used the whip. In 2022, the $60,000 winner’s share of a maiden race was redistributed after jockey Drayden Van Dyke used his whip 11 times.

Harvey has been suspended on Sept. 29 and Oct. 4-5.

Smarty Nose was Harvey’s 20th winner on all breeds this year, through Saturday.

Smarty Nose earned $7,200 of the $13,200 purse in a $6,250 claimer for owner Silvio Soto and trainer Kelly Castaneda.

- additional reporting by Steve Andersen

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