Straight No Chaser works half-mile for Breeders' Cup Sprint
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ARCADIA, Calif. - Straight No Chaser, the champion male sprinter of 2024, worked a half-mile in a quick 47.20 seconds at Santa Anita on Sunday in advance of a scheduled start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
Straight No Chaser won the 2024 BC Sprint to clinch his title. In an abbreviated campaign this year, Straight No Chaser has started three times, the most recent of which was a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship at six furlongs on Sept. 28.
On Sunday, Straight No Chaser worked alone. The time was the fastest of 69 recorded works at the distance.
“The main thing was the way he did it,” trainer Dan Blacker said. “He did it in hand. He's been as good ever.”
Owned by the MyRacehorse partnership, Straight No Chaser started in two $2 million sprints in the Middle East earlier this year, winning the Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia in February, and finishing eighth of 11 in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen Sprint in Dubai in April.
The BC Sprint is likely to be Straight No Chaser’s final start before he goes to stud at WinStar Farm in Kentucky in 2026.
Imagination, who won the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, will start in the BC Sprint. Trained by Bob Baffert, Imagination worked three furlongs in 36.60 seconds on Friday.
The Baffert-trained Nysos worked six furlongs in 1:11.20 on Sunday for the BC Dirt Mile on Nov. 1. Nysos has not raced since a win in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar in July.
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