Following Mr Freeze's Fayette win, Romans may have five Breeders' Cup starters
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Amid what’s supposedly a down period, Dale Romans sure does have a lot of bullets for the Breeders’ Cup.
Last year, Romans totaled his fewest number of wins, 36, since 1997 and his lowest stable earnings, $3.08 million, since 2002. With still two-plus months to go in 2020, his wins (30) and earnings ($2.55 million) are on pace to surpass 2019, but not by much – unless he has a big showing at the Nov. 6-7 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.
And he well might. Romans could have as many as five starters in the Breeders’ Cup: Girl Daddy for the Juvenile Fillies; Sittin On Go and Smiley Sobotka for the Juvenile; Sally’s Curlin for the Filly and Mare Sprint; and after his gutsy win Saturday in the Grade 2 Fayette at Keeneland, Mr Freeze for the Dirt Mile.
“We’ll see how Mr Freeze comes out of the Fayette in a day or two and make a firm decision from there,” said Romans. “It sure was good to see him return to his old self.”
Mr Freeze earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure holding off Aurelius Maximus by a neck in the 1 1/8-mile Fayette. The 5-year-old horse would be turning back in distance in the Dirt Mile, which Romans likes, but he’ll most likely need a higher Beyer to factor in – and that is something of which he is capable. In a five-race span ending with a victory in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Mile in February, Mr Freeze posted Beyers ranging from 99 to 107.
“We know what he can do,” said Romans. “My job is to get him to a peak for Breeders’ Cup if that’s what we end up doing.”
Romans has substantially altered the composition of his stable since he won the Eclipse Award for top trainer in 2012, reducing the number of lower-level runners he oversees in favor of higher-quality 2-year-olds.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say this has been a down year for us,” he said. “For one, it’s been a really different year because of the coronavirus and everything, and we’ve trimmed our numbers on purpose, trying to focus on having our 2-year-olds develop into top horses. We’ve got a lot of nice-looking babies coming in right now and I’ve had to make room for them. I imagine that next year we might really be loaded.”