Equipment snafu adds drama to routine gallop for Sharp Azteca

DEL MAR, Calif. – There never seems to be a dull moment these days for trainer Jorge Navarro.

On Friday, Navarro sent out his Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile contender Sharp Azteca for a routine gallop over the main track at Del Mar that turned out to be not so routine after all. Not after the multiple Grade 2 winner and potential Dirt Mile favorite lost one of the two saddle towels he was wearing along with his saddle pad approaching the wire.

Sharp Azteca became a bit unsettled at first, but fortunately was able to regain his composure and pull up on the clubhouse turn without further incident, his Breeders’ Cup saddle towel still intact.

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“He saw another horse in front of him and is feeling so good right now he tried to take off after him, and that’s when he lost some of his equipment,” said Navarro, who was on hand for the potentially disastrous occurrence. “But he showed just how professional he is the way he handled everything, and made it back to the barn without any issues. He’s just so sharp right now. After this I’m going to work him here tomorrow and let him get rid of some of that excess energy.”

Trainer Chad Summers, whose Mind Your Biscuits is also among the pre-entrants for the Dirt Mile, was watching Sharp Azteca gallop from a vantage point near the finish line and was the first one out on the track to recover the wayward equipment, which had suddenly become a traffic obstacle for the many other horses training on the track at the time.

Sharp Azteca is one of two horses Navarro brought here for the Breeders’ Cup along with War Story, who is pre-entered in both the Classic and Turf. War Story is also scheduled to breeze on Saturday.

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