Santa Anita notes: Points Offthebench headed for Breeders' Cup Sprint

ARCADIA, Calif. – Points Offthebench will have a light preparation for the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 2 after winning his second consecutive Grade 1 race in Saturday’s $250,250 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

The victory confirmed Points Offthebench’s status as a leading contender for the BC Sprint, following a win in his stakes debut in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar on July 28.

Trainer Tim Yakteen said on Sunday that Points Offthebench will have only one or two workouts before the BC Sprint.

“I’ll work him once for sure, but he’ll tell me whether to work him once or twice,” Yakteen said. “He’s a lightly made horse, and that’s the reason his races are spread out.

“Now the big question is how does he react in the 30 days” between races.

For winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, Points Offthebench earned a spot in the BC Sprint through the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, which offered a fees-paid berth to the winner.

[BREEDERS' CUP CHALLENGE: Win and You’re In schedule and results]

Owned by Donnie Crevier and Charles Martin, Points Offthebench ($11.20) closed from third in a field of seven to win the six-furlong Santa Anita Sprint Championship by a half-length over 7-5 favorite Goldencents. Points Offthebench was ridden by Mike Smith, who had four wins on Saturday, including three stakes.

Points Offthebench, a California-bred by Benchmark, has won 5 of 8 starts and $514,940.

Goldencents still in hunt

Santa Anita Sprint Championship runner-up Goldencents will be considered for the $1 million BC Dirt Mile on Nov. 1 or the BC Sprint, trainer Doug O’Neill said on Sunday.

“I want to keep the options open,” O’Neill said.

The winner of the Santa Anita Derby in April, Goldencents has been second in three consecutive sprints. At Del Mar, Goldencents was second to Points Offthebench in the Bing Crosby and second to Fed Biz in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes.

The disappointment in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship field was Trinniberg, the champion sprinter of 2012 and the winner of the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He was fourth on the backstretch and faded from contention in the final quarter-mile.

“His first jump was good,” jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. said following the race. “After that, the race was over. I’m baffled.”

Let Em Shine takes a break

Let Em Shine, a stakes winner at Betfair Hollywood Park in May, has been turned out for 90 days because of a bone spur, trainer Adam Kitchingman said on Saturday.

Let Em Shine finished 13th in the King’s Bishop Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 24, his most recent start. He was turned out after the injury was discovered following a mid-September workout.

Owned by William Peeples, Let Em Shine has won 3 of 6 starts and $138,022. Let Em Shine won the Came Home Stakes at Hollywood Park in May and was later fourth in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park in June.