Gato Del Oro, who ran the two best races of his career at Del Mar before shipping to Remington Park and finishing third in last month’s Oklahoma Derby, is a candidate for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, trainer Richard Baltas said Wednesday. The race is Nov. 3 at Del Mar. “Right now, we’re pointing for that, hoping he’ll draw in,” Baltas said. Gato Del Oro made his last start in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sept. 24, setting a pressured pace in the 1 1/8-mile race. Untrapped won from off the pace by 1 1/4 lengths over Battle of Midway. Gato Del Oro was making his first start beyond a mile, and his first start outside of Southern California. “I thought it was a pretty good effort,” Baltas said. “The two horses that beat him are both legitimate horses. He ran a good third.” Gato Del Oro came into the Oklahoma Derby off a runner-up finish to Battle of Midway in the $100,000 Shared Belief at a mile Aug. 26 at Del Mar. One start earlier, Gato Del Oro won at that distance at Del Mar, in an optional $40,000 claiming race. He defeated older rivals, including Giant Expectations, who has since won the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien at Del Mar and with it a berth into the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Baltas said he could make an equipment change for the Dirt Mile. “I’m thinking about taking the blinkers off and maybe trying to get him to settle a little bit and make a run,” Baltas said. Gato Del Oro is a son of Medaglia d’Oro. His stakes-winning dam, Funny Feeling, is a full sister to Grade 1 winner Jimmy Creed and a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Pussycat Doll. Gato Del Oro is owned by J K Racing Stable and Bruce Chandler. Colonelsdarktemper, who ran fourth in the Oklahoma Derby, is possible for the Dirt Mile, according to trainer Jinks Fires. The horse won the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby in August and encountered some trouble early on in the Oklahoma Derby. He was in tight at the three-quarter pole, and Fires said he emerged from the race with a bruise on the shin. “The hide was knocked off,” Fires said. “I think a horse clipped him with a toe grab.” Fires said he will see how Colonelsdarktemper does going forward before a final decision is made on the Breeders’ Cup. The horse is based at Churchill Downs, and after Thanksgiving will be stabled at Oaklawn. ◗ Oaklawn Park announced Wednesday that it has named retired trainer and former steward Hal Wiggins to the newly created position of racing integrity officer for the 2018 meet, which opens in January. In the role, Wiggins will serve as a liaison among the management of Oaklawn, the stewards, and Arkansas Racing Commission staff.