Mile draws 25 pre-entries with Wise Dan out

They could run two Breeders’ Cup Miles this year.

A remarkable 25 horses were pre-entered in the $2 million Mile, a huge number owing in great part to the fact that one horse – two-time winner Wise Dan – is injured and will miss the race.

Barring late scratches, the Mile will go with a full field of 14 for the first time since 2006, when Miesque’s Approval scored an upset at Churchill Downs. Wise Dan beat nine rivals last year at Santa Anita and eight when he won the 2012 Mile.

The field includes two Breeders’ Cup Challenge race winners, Obviously (Shoemaker Mile) and Trade Storm (Woodbine Mile), who gained automatic starting berths in the race and five other horses – Kaigun, Tom’s Tribute, Summer Front, Grand Arch, and Seek Again – who landed slots in the field on the basis of points earned in North American graded stakes.

The other seven among the top 14 pre-entrants – Dayatthespa, Anodin, Fiesolana, Karatontie, Mustajeeb, Toronado, and Veda – were chosen by the Breeders’ Cup selection panel. Among those seven, only Dayatthespa is not a European-based runner, and the group selected by the panel includes the likely race favorite, English shipper Toronado.

Two horses among the top 14, Fiesolana and Dayatthespa, have the Mile listed as second preference, the Filly and Mare Turf as first preference, and if both are entered in their preferred race, Sayaad and Tourist will move up and get into the Mile. That would leave out five pre-entered horses with the Mile listed as first preference: Big Bane Theory, Kyoshi, Better Lucky, Kingsbarns, and Mr. Commons. Kyoshi and Kingsbarns both are European-based horses.

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With Fiesolana likely for the Filly and Mare Turf, the Mile figures to have six overseas starters, the largest European contingent since seven ran in 1995. There were just two European shippers in the 2013 and 2012 Miles, and the Euros form a formidable force this year. Toronado is the highest-rated overseas Mile pre-entrant, but Anodin and Karakontie both are proven at the Group 1 level.

The 3-year-old filly Veda was a good second in her lone Group 1 start, the French 1000 Guineas, while Mustajeeb finished third in the Irish 2000 Guineas this year. Toronado and Trade Storm come from England; Anodin, Karakontie, and Veda from France; and Mustajeeb from Ireland.

Two of the North American-based pre-entrants, Seek Again and Obviously, began their careers in Europe. Obviously will be making his third start in the Mile after finishing third in 2012 and fifth last year. Seek Again might be the leading North American chance despite having finished sixth Oct. 4 in the Shadwell Turf Mile.