Little drama in Breeders' Cup Sprint pre-entries

There were few surprises when pre-entries were announced Wednesday for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint, considered one of the most competitive and anticipated races on the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup program.

Only 11 horses were pre-entered for the race, led by likely favorite Mitole, four-time Grade 1 winner Imperial Hint, the speedy 3-year-old Shancelot, and Catalina Cruiser, whose connections opted for the Sprint rather than the Dirt Mile. Catalina Cruiser was one of five horses given first preference for the Sprint over the Dirt Mile, along with Firenze Fire, Whitmore, Hog Creek Hustle, and Diamond Oops.

Matera Sky was a somewhat unexpected addition to the field, having gone winless in two starts in Japan following his shocking second-place finish behind X Y Jet in the Dubai Golden Shaheen earlier this year.

Only two winners of Breeders’ Cup Challenge races will run in the Sprint, Imperial Hint (Vosburgh) and Mitole’s stablemate Engage (Phoenix). Omaha Beach, who captured the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, runs in the Dirt Mile, while Promises Fulfilled (John Nerud) and Cistron (Bing Crosby) were not pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup.

The speedy 3-year-old Landeskog, runner-up in the Gallant Bob at Parx Racing, completes the lineup.

Both Mitole and Shancelot, who finished a game second to Omaha Beach following a stirring stretch duel in the Santa Anita Sprint, turned in sharp works here over the past several days. On Tuesday, Mitole sizzled five furlongs from the gate in 58.27 seconds. Three days earlier, Shancelot breezed a half-mile in 46.80, much to the delight of trainer Jorge Navarro, who flew in from New Jersey to oversee the work.

“I heard Martin Garcia works a lot of nice babies here for Bob [Baffert], so I got him to work the horse for me,” Navarro said. “He was supposed to go in 48 out in 1:01. When I told Martin when he came back he went in 46 and 4 and out in 59 and change, he couldn’t believe it. He actually apologized to me. He said he was just cruising. I told him no need to apologize. That’s just the way he does it. He goes so easily.”

Navarro said Shancelot has thrived since shipping to Santa Anita from his Monmouth Park base the last week of September.

“Looking at his coat now compared to a month ago, you can see the difference,” Navarro said. “And he’s tearing up the feed tub every day even after a gut-wrenching race like the one he had with Omaha Beach. At the moment, everything couldn’t be going any more perfect and the decision to bring him out here early to get used to everything California might throw at him has been very worthwhile.”

Shancelot will be ridden by Jose Ortiz for the first time in the Sprint, replacing his regular rider, Emisael Jaramillo.

“I have a very good relationship with Emisael, he’s like family and a huge part of our team,” Navarro said. “This was a group decision, a very, very tough decision personally. But there isn’t any hotter jockey right now than Jose, and in a race like this you need to take every edge you can.”