Santin targets Coolmore Mile for next start

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Santin came out of his Arlington Million victory in good order and will make his next start in the $1 million Coolmore Mile on Oct. 8 at Keeneland, according to trainer Brendan Walsh.

Santin earned a career-high 106 Beyer Speed Figure in his 1 3/4-length triumph Saturday over Smooth Like Strait on the Churchill Downs turf. It was the second Grade 1 win this year for Santin, a 4-year-old Godolphin homebred colt by Distorted Humor, following the May 7 Old Forester Turf Classic over the same course.

The Coolmore Mile will serve as a prep for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile on Nov. 5 at Keeneland.

Meanwhile, trainer Al Stall Jr. said Dalika, the upset winner of the Grade 1 Beverly D., will not be supplemented to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf after earning a Win and You’re In berth toward the Nov. 5 race at Keeneland with a triumph that graded out to a career-best 98 Beyer.

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Stall said Dalika, a 6-year-old German-bred owned by Bal Mar Equine, will make her next start in the Sept. 10 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf going a mile on the Kentucky Downs turf. The purse for the Ladies Mile will be increased to $1 million (including Kentucky-bred bonuses) if a Grade 1 winner starts in it, with bonus-ineligible horses such as Dalika competing for the equivalent of $550,000.

Both Grade 1 races were run over a new Churchill turf that has been highly problematic since it was first used, on April 30. Horsemen who participated in the races were not complimentary of the surface. Churchill officials are in the process of deciding whether or not the course will be used for the 14-day September meet that begins Sept. 15 or for the fall meet that starts Oct. 30.