Lieutenant Dan will take another shot at Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

Lieutenant Dan, one of the top California-breds of 2021, is in the midst of a wintertime vacation designed to have the turf sprinter prepared for a stakes campaign in the second half of 2022.

Lieutenant Dan was second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in November in his latest start, and the same race at Keeneland on Nov. 5 is a long-term goal, owner and breeder Nick Alexander said earlier this week.

A gelding, Lieutenant Dan has remained with trainer Steve Miyadi at Santa Anita in recent months, and is scheduled to resume training later this winter.

“We figured we’d give him some time off and see if he wants to come back as a 6-year-old,” Alexander said.

Alexander envisions a limited campaign of turf sprints for Lieutenant Dan, who won 3 of 4 starts and earned $407,720 in 2021. Last year, Lieutenant Dan won two stakes for turf sprinters – the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 22 and the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 1 – before finishing 1 1/4 lengths behind Golden Pal as the 9-2 second choice in a field of 12 in the BC Turf Sprint.

“He had four races pretty much one right after another,” Alexander said. “That was running as hard as you can every time.”

Last year, Alexander paid a $100,000 supplemental fee to make Lieutenant Dan eligible to the Breeders’ Cup program for the rest of his career. In the BC Turf Sprint, Lieutenant Dan earned $170,000, but left Alexander eager for another attempt at the race.

“We’d like to try one more time,” he said. “We didn’t accomplish our mission.

“What a nice horse. He ran as hard as he can run. It was a pretty salty field well behind him. He couldn’t catch that Golden Pal. I was very proud of him.”

Alexander has two expected starters on Saturday among the five California Cup races for statebreds at Santa Anita – Rose Dawson in the $200,000 California Cup Oaks and Alice Marble in the $175,000 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint, both trained by Phil D’Amato.

Rose Dawson won her debut in a maiden special weight race at 5 1/2 furlongs by four lengths at Los Alamitos on Dec. 5 and will have her second start in the California Cup Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf. The California Cup Oaks field is expected to include Professors’ Pride, who won the Soviet Problem Stakes at a mile on dirt at Los Alamitos on Dec. 10 and is unbeaten in two starts.

Alice Marble will have her stakes debut in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course. The field is led by Leggs Galore and Warren’s Showtime, who were first and third in the 2021 running.