Straight No Chaser on track for start in Riyadh Dirt Sprint
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Despite missing a workout last weekend because of inclement weather, Straight No Chaser, the champion sprinter of 2024, is on schedule for a start in the Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 22.
Straight No Chaser was galloped at Santa Anita on Wednesday, according to trainer Dan Blacker, who said the 6-year-old will have two additional workouts at Santa Anita on upcoming weekend before being flown to Saudi Arabia on Feb. 11.
The $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint is run at six furlongs. Straight No Chaser has not raced since a win in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 2, a victory that clinched his championship.
“He’s doing great,” Blacker said. “We missed a work on the weekend because of the rain. He was a little ahead of schedule. It’s not going to be a big deal.
“He’ll work again this weekend. He’s a naturally very fit horse.”
Straight No Chaser, owned by the My Racehorse syndicate, had five workouts from Dec. 22 to Jan. 20 at Santa Anita, including three works at five furlongs this month.
“We freshened him after the Breeders’ Cup and went easy with him for a bit,” Blacker said. “He bounced back to race fitness very quickly, faster than you’re average horse.
“He’ll probably do a little work in Saudi, just because of the schedule.”
Big City Lights, the easy winner of the California Cup Sprint for statebreds at Santa Anita on Jan. 18, will not start in Saudi Arabia, trainer Richard Mandella. Instead, the Grade 1 Golden Shaheen Stakes in Dubai on April 5 is a possible target, Mandella said.
“I’m thinking about Dubai,” Mandella said.
Blacker has mentioned the $2 million Golden Shaheen at six furlongs as another foreign target for Straight No Chaser, who has won 6 of 10 starts in his career.
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