Mile: QE II form boosts Toronado's chances
The complexion of the Breeders’ Cup Mile changed only around the margins during the last week, a quiet spell since the shock announcement Oct. 13 that two-time Mile winner Wise Dan was out of the race with a fractured foreleg.
The major global one-mile race last weekend, the Queen Elizabeth II at Ascot, is unlikely to produce a BC Mile starter, though eighth-place Custom Cut had been mentioned as a potential runner in recent weeks. But the QEII did further validate the form of likely Mile favorite Toronado, who would have run at Ascot – and perhaps not at Santa Anita – had the course last weekend in England not come up soft-to-heavy. Charm Spirit beat Toronado’s stablemate Night of Thunder in the QEII, a performance that added luster to Toronado’s narrow loss to Charm Spirit in the Sept. 14 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp.
Toronado heads a large group of Europeans expected to arrive Saturday in California for the Mile. The Freddy Head-trained Anodin, barring a last-minute change at pre-entry time Monday, also is a confirmed runner, as is Woodbine Mile winner Trade Storm. Monday, trainer Dermot Weld announced that Mustajeeb, whose highest-level win came in a Group 3, also is an intended starter. Another Irish horse, the mare Fiesolana, is expected to be among the pre-entries, and two French horses, Veda and Karakontie, also could show up in the pre-entries.
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Unlucky Seek Again heads a North American-based contingent that also could include Obviously, Tom’s Tribute, Summer Front, Grand Arch, Kaigun, Sayaad, and Big Bane Theory. Za Approval, trainer Christophe Clement told Daily Racing Form over the weekend, will be pre-entered in the Turf Sprint and not the Mile, while Silentio is expected to be cross-entered in both races but with the Turf Sprint as first preference.
If all the European possibles show, and the North American group holds, there would be 14 Mile pre-entries, exactly the maximum number of starters in the race. And with Wise Dan out of the picture this year, an unexpected winner from the bulky group is not out of the question.