Midnight Storm will have just one prep before Breeders' Cup Mile

ARCADIA, Calif.- Midnight Storm will have a light campaign in advance of the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.

Midnight Storm earned a fees-paid berth to the BC Mile with a victory in the $400,345 Shoemaker Mile on turf at Santa Anita on Saturday. The race was part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth for the winner to the BC Mile.

Sunday, trainer Phil D’Amato said Midnight Storm is likely to have one race in late summer as a prep for the BC Mile. He said races such as the $200,000 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 21 or the $1 million Woodbine Mile in Canada on Sept. 17 will be considered.

“It’s all about timing,” D’Amato said. “I’d like to put a run in him before the Breeders’ Cup. He runs well fresh. He’ll run in one of the two races. It gives me the right timing.”

Owned by Alex Venneri and Little Red Feather Racing, Midnight Storm won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile by a half-length over Tourist. The Shoemaker Mile was Midnight Storm’s first win in a Grade 1 and third stakes win. A 5-year-old by Pioneerof the Nile, Midnight Storm has won 6 of 16 starts and earned $831,110.

D’Amato argues that Midnight Storm’s best chance in the BC Mile is to approach the race with a minimal number of races. The decision reflects D’Amato’s experience with Obviously, the winner of the 2015 Shoemaker Mile.

An 8-year-old gelding, Obviously has started in the BC Mile in the last four years, with his best finish a third in the 2012 BC Mile. At the time, Obviously was trained by Mike Mitchell and D’Amato was his assistant. Last year, Obviously finished ninth in the BC Mile.

Obviously had campaigns before those Breeders’ Cup races with as many as eight starts – in 2012 – to as few as one race last year.

Obviously was nominated for the Shoemaker Mile, but was not entered. D’Amato said Obviously will start in a turf stakes on June 18 - the $300,000 Poker Stakes at a mile at Belmont Park, or the $200,000 Wise Dan Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs.