Raging Torrent will point to Breeders' Cup Sprint, not Dirt Mile, O'Neill says

DEL MAR, Calif. - There was a time in the final months of 2023 when Raging Torrent was tried twice in top two-turn races for juveniles in California and Oklahoma. He finished fourth in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita and last of six in the Springboard Mile at Remington Park.

“He acted like two turns would be what he wanted to do,” trainer Doug O’Neill reflected on Sunday morning. “I was wrong.”

O’Neill is delighted to be wrong. On Saturday, Raging Torrent won his first graded stakes, and third consecutive start at seven furlongs, in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at Del Mar.

“Going back to one turn, he’s run as well in the races as he does in the mornings,” O’Neill said.

The win in the $251,500 Pat O’Brien Stakes gave Raging Torrent a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 2, but the 3-year-old colt will be pointed instead to the BC Sprint at six furlongs on the same day. O’Neill said on Sunday morning that Raging Torrent will not race again until the BC Sprint.

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“He’s run well with spacing” between races, O’Neill said. “I think it’s the right move.”

Raging Torrent, who races for Mark Davis and Great Friends Stable, was the surprise winner of the Pat O’Brien Stakes. Ridden by Antonio Fresu, Raging Torrent set the early pace, including a half-mile in 44.96 seconds, lost his lead briefly in the stretch to 1-2 favorite The Chosen Vron, and rallied to beat that highly esteemed rival by a neck.

“He eye-balled The Chosen Vron and won,” O’Neill said.

As the lone 3-year-old in the Pat O’Brien, Raging Torrent, who paid $10.80, carried 118 pounds. The Chosen Vron, 6, carried 125.

Raging Torrent’s winning streak includes two victories at Churchill Downs – an allowance race on May 4 and his first stakes win in the Maxfield Stakes for 3-year-olds on June 30.

The Pat O’Brien was the first loss for The Chosen Vron in six starts since a fifth-place finish in the BC Sprint at Santa Anita last November. An 18-time stakes winner in 25 starts, The Chosen Vron earned a fees-paid berth to this year’s BC Sprint with a sharp win in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs at Del Mar on July 27.

Last year, The Chosen Vron did not start between a win in the Bing Crosby and the BC Sprint. This year, trainer Eric Kruljac said he wanted to take a different approach to keeping The Chosen Vron sharper prior to the BC Sprint, and added the Pat O’Brien Stakes to The Chosen Vron’s docket.

In the minutes after Saturday’s loss, Kruljac said The Chosen Vron “wasn’t quite good enough” in the Pat O’Brien.

“I think he has a better race in him,” he said. “It sets him up for Nov. 2.”

The Nov. 2 program is a long-range goal with Senor Buscador, who finished fourth by 6 3/4 lengths in the Pat O’Brien in his first start since a third-place finish in the $12 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on March 30. In February, Senor Buscador won the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia.

In the Pat O’Brien, Senor Buscador closed from last of eight and gained his best placing at the finish. The Pat O’Brien was considered a starting point for a late summer and fall campaign expected to include the Grade 1 California Crown at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on Sept. 28, and the BC Classic at 1 1/4 miles on Nov. 2.

Senor Buscador is a closer, a manner of running that has not been widely successful this summer on the Del Mar main track.

“He tried,” trainer Todd Fincher said on Sunday afternoon. “It was a biased track and they went slow.”

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