Good Ba Ba victor in Champions Mile; likely to stay home

Good Ba Ba swept to victory in the $1 million Champions Mile at Sha Tin on Sunday, virtually clinching Hong Kong Horse of the Year honors in the first foreign race to be included in the Breeders' Cup's Win and You're In program.

But Good Ba Ba, a 6-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Lear Fan, is most unlikely to be at Santa Anita for the Breeders' Cup Mile, even though he is fully nominated to the Cup.

His trainer, Andreas Schutz, was ecstatic about Good Ba Ba's fourth consecutive Group 1 triumph in Hong Kong, in which Olivier Doleuze guided him to a one-length victory over Armada, clocking 1:33.50 for the mile on good ground as the 3-5 favorite. He cautioned, however, against hopes of an international campaign for his star miler.

"We'll not make any hasty decisions, but I'll discuss plans with owner John Yuen sometime soon," Schutz said. "However, I think we are odds-on to stay in Hong Kong and a big price against going to the Yasuda Kinen" - at Tokyo on June 8 - "or the Breeders' Cup Mile."

Later, Archipenko sprung a mild surprise at 13.80-1 to win the $1.8 million Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, defeating Franch invader Balius by 1 3/4 lengths with 11-10 choice Viva Pataca a neck farther back in third.