Hong Kong Harry, winner of City of Hope Mile, will pass on Breeders' Cup Mile
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ARCADIA, Calif. - The $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4 is too expensive of a proposition for Hong Kong Harry, the winner of Saturday’s Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita.
To be eligible for the nation’s richest turf mile, owners Scott Anastasi, Jimmy Ukegawa and Tony Valazza must pay a $200,000 supplemental nomination fee to make the 6-year-old Hong Kong Harry eligible to the Breeders’ Cup series for the remainder of his career as well as $60,000 in pre-entry and entry fees to start in the race.
The fee is too steep, trainer Phil D’Amato said on Sunday. The Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 25 is considered a suitable substitute.
“We’ll wait for the Seabiscuit and have him nice and fresh and ready to go,” D’Amato said.
Hong Kong Harry won the 2022 Seabiscuit, the last of three graded stakes wins that year. This year, Hong Kong Harry was beaten in his first three starts before he won the $202,000 City of Hope Mile by a neck as the 11-10 favorite, catching a stubborn leader in 8-1 Astronomer.
Hong Kong Harry has won 10 of 17 starts in his career, and 6 of 10 starts since arriving from Ireland in the winter of 2021-2022. Hong Kong Harry has earned $734,600 in the United States.
The City of Hope Mile was his first start since a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on May 29. D’Amato has race goals at Santa Anita this winter for Hong Kong Harry.
“We have a nice gelding on our hands,” D’Amato said. “We’ve got all the Santa Anita meeting.”
Astronomer, a 4-year-old gelding, had his graded stakes debut in the City of Hope Mile, and will be considered for the BC Mile. Trainer Simon Callaghan acknowledged on Sunday that it will be difficult for Astronomer to gain a berth among the 14 runners for the BC Mile, a race that frequently draws a large number of pre-entries.
Astronomer had his third start of 2023, and first in a stakes, in the City of Hope Mile.
“I think getting in the Breeders’ Cup is unlikely,” Callaghan said. “It’s not totally crazy, given his comeback.”
The winner of the Qatar Golden Mile for 2-year-olds on turf at Del Mar in November 2021, Astronomer did not race as a 3-year-old last year because of bone bruising, Callaghan said.
Aside from the BC Mile, Callaghan rates Astronomer as a long-term prospect for the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf, a $1 million race at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 27.
“I don’t think a mile and an eighth will be a problem for him,” Callaghan said. “He’s improving and he showed he can be a top-level horse in the division in California.”
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