Shancelot swift as ever in final BC Sprint move

Trainer Jorge Navarro sent a text just minutes after Shancelot completed his final work for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint. It was short and to the point. All it said was “Freak!”

Navarro’s assessment of his frighteningly fast 3-year-old might not have been too out of line – not after watching Shancelot sizzle a half-mile in 46.27 seconds Saturday at Santa Anita while hard held to the wire under jockey Martin Garcia. Shancelot then continued with terrific energy going out five furlongs over a dullish track that has not been yielding fast gallop-out times in 58.89 before easing up six panels in 1:12.08. All that after fanning three or four paths wide at the top of the stretch.

“Even though he went so fast, you really can’t call it a hard workout,” Navarro said while watching Shancelot cool out a short while later. “That’s just him. Martin said he took him off the rail like that into the stretch, like he did last week, because by the time we worked the track had already gotten pretty chewed up near the inside and he wanted to get him out in the better footing coming down the stretch.”

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Navarro said his main concern now will be Monday’s post position draw for Shancelot, who was narrowly defeated by Omaha Beach making his local debut in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship earlier this month.

“I’m happy with the way everything has been going, it was definitely the right decision to bring him out here early and get him acclimated to this place,” said Navarro. “My only worry would be if he draws an inside post, especially the rail, although he has been better at the gate here than he was at Saratoga.”

Navarro said he would take things easily with Shancelot the rest of the week.

“He’ll walk on Sunday, jog the following two days, and just gallop easily into the race after that,” said Navarro. “That’s all he needs. He’s definitely ready.”