Hunt to skip Seabiscuit, point to San Gabriel

Hunt, the Grade 1 winner occasionally ranked as the top middle-distance turf horse in California, will skip the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap on Saturday at Del Mar after missing a month of serious training. Hunt was the 122-pound highweight for the Seabiscuit, a race he won in 2017.

“We’re going to wait,” trainer Phil D’Amato said this week. “To win these kinds of races, you have to be 100 percent, you can’t be 90 percent. We’re erring on the side of caution.”

A three-time graded winner at Del Mar, Hunt won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile last spring at Santa Anita, then went off form twice in the summer because of feet issues. While training this fall for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, he got sick, and his training was interrupted. Hunt posted his initial three-furlong comeback work Monday at Santa Anita.

D’Amato said Hunt will target the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes on Jan. 5 at Santa Anita, followed by the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on March 9. Hunt is owned by Michael House.

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