Straight No Chaser to miss Bing Crosby
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Straight No Chaser, the champion sprinter of 2024, will miss the main sprint of the upcoming Del Mar summer meeting – the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes on July 26 – but is under consideration for the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs on Aug. 23.
Straight No Chaser, a 6-year-old who has won 7 of 12 starts, had mixed form in two $2 million races at six furlongs in the Middle East earlier this year. He won the Grade 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia in February, but was eighth of 11 in the Grade 1 Golden Shaheen in Dubai on April 5.
“He needed a little time after the Middle East” trip, trainer Dan Blacker said of Wednesday.
Straight No Chaser, owned by the My Racehorse syndicate, worked three furlongs in 36.80 seconds at Santa Anita on July 10, his first workout of the summer.
The long-range goal is the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1, a race Straight No Chaser won last year. The Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Sept. 28 is a leading option prior to the Breeders’ Cup, Blacker said.
The $250,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes is run at seven furlongs. Straight No Chaser was seventh in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds in December 2022 in his last start at seven furlongs, but did win an allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs in 2022.
“It’s disappointing not to be ready for the Bing,” he said. “I’m looking forward to his comeback.”
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