Indian Blessing: No BC but not done

ARCADIA, Calif. - Indian Blessing's absence from the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 6 does not necessarily mean the two-time champion has run her last race.

Sunday, trainer Bob Baffert said Indian Blessing would pass the BC Filly and Mare Sprint after watching the 4-year-old filly work six furlongs in 1:12.80 on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride synthetic track. He was not pleased with the way she traveled over the surface, but said he was happy with her physical condition.

"She just doesn't like the track," he said. "What can you do? She looks good. It's frustrating."

Baffert said that Indian Blessing "is not retired," but admitted that the chances she will start on a synthetic track in Southern California in coming months are remote. She is expected to be bred next year. Sunday, Baffert regretted not sending Indian Blessing to Laurel for the Grade 1 Frank De Francis Memorial Dash on Saturday.

"If the De Francis was next week, I'd go there," he said. "I don't know if there's anything else in the country.

"I'm not going to pre-enter her for the Breeders' Cup. In the Breeders' Cup everything has to be perfect. The work was average, and you can't be average going into the Breeders' Cup. I'm not going to pre-enter because I don't want the temptation to change my mind."

Owned by breeders Hal and Patti Earnhardt, Indian Blessing was considered a leading contender for the Filly and Mare Sprint, along with defending champion Ventura and Informed Decision, the winner of five stakes this year.

Indian Blessing, 4, won the 2007 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and was second in the 2008 BC Filly and Mare Sprint over this track. A winner of 10 of 16 starts and $2,995,420, Indian Blessing was the champion 2-year-old filly of 2007 and the champion female sprinter of 2008.