Sprint Championship important bridge for Collusion Illusion to cross

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mark Glatt and Collusion Illusion both got their first Grade 1 victories last month in the Bing Crosby. Now both have their sights set on a potential Eclipse Award, which likely would come to Collusion Illusion if he can win his next two starts, beginning Sunday with the Grade 2, $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

The Santa Anita Sprint Championship, race 8 on the 11-race card, is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Both are at six furlongs. Collusion Illusion already is in, via his victory in the six-furlong Crosby at Del Mar. This race offers an ideal bridge to the main year-end goal, coming eight weeks after the Crosby and six weeks in front of the Breeders’ Cup.

“After the Bing Crosby, I didn’t want to run him twice before the Breeders’ Cup, and the ownership agreed. We thought this was the best timing for him,” Glatt said earlier this week at Santa Anita. “He’s run well over this track. It was easier to stay home. It’s nice spacing.”

Collusion Illusion is best as a late-running sprinter, but he’ll likely have to be closer to the pace in this fairly paceless five-horse field. He came flying late in the Crosby while cutting inside, taking the spray of dirt.

“The impressive thing is that it wasn’t a bad trip, but it wasn’t the smoothest, wasn’t the kind of trip he’d encountered before, with an outside box and an outside trip,” Glatt said. “He took a lot of dirt. It was good to see him perform like that. That should bode well going forward.”

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After one poor try going long to end his 2-year-old campaign, Collusion Illusion, 3, has been kept around one turn this year. He’s unbeaten in three starts, and if he wins his next two, the male sprint title could be his.

This might be his sternest test yet. Although Collusion Illusion has a mere four rivals, both C Z Rocket and Flagstaff are formidable foes.

C Z Rocket has won all four of his starts since being claimed in April by Peter Miller, who most recently sent him out for a victory in the seven-furlong Pat O’Brien at Del Mar Aug. 29. That race is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, but the Sprint is his preferred target. A win here would get him a fees-paid berth to his desired goal.

Flavien Prat rode C Z Rocket last time, but he’s the regular rider for Collusion Illusion and opted to go there, so Luis Saez has picked up another live mount for his weekend endeavors here.

Flagstaff grudgingly gave way in the late stages of the Pat O’Brien to finish second to C Z Rocket. Flagstaff is 4 for 8 at Santa Anita, 1 for 6 elsewhere. More important for him, trainer John Sadler said, is the pace of the race.

“What hurt him his last two starts is he got slow splits. He wants to run into faster splits,” Sadler said.

This race also figures to unfold at a moderate pace.

Desert Law could wind up on the lead. He was carved up on a hot, contested pace in the Crosby.

Giant Expectations was fifth in the Pat O’Brien, his first start in nearly 10 months. He is winless in 11 straight since winning the San Antonio in December 2017.