Mitole likely to train up to Breeders' Cup Sprint

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Mitole’s dominant three-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Forego Stakes put him back atop the male sprint division. He will try to clinch a championship in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 2, which, trainer Steve Asmussen said, will “most likely” be his next start.

Asmussen had thought about running Mitole back in the Vosburgh at Belmont but said “off that fast of a race” it might be better to wait.

Mitole set a stakes record, covering seven furlongs in 1:20.80, which was just .40 off the track record. Mitole earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure.

“Showed his brilliance,” Asmussen said. “That is a freaky-fast horse.

Mitole added the Forego to earlier Grade 1 victories in the Churchill Downs and Metropolitan Handicap, the latter being a one-turn mile race. His only loss in his last nine starts came to Imperial Hint in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt here on July 27.

Asmussen said Mitole would remain in Saratoga for the time being.