Venetian Harbor will be freshened, pointed to Breeders' Cup
Venetian Harbor was second in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar last Sunday in what is expected to be her only start of the summer meeting.
This fall, trainer Richard Baltas is likely to point Venetian Harbor to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at seven furlongs or the BC Distaff at 1 1/8 miles. Both races are at Del Mar on Nov. 6.
Selecting a race will not be an easy decision, Baltas said on Wednesday.
“That’s a tough one,” he said. “I think she can get a mile, and a mile and a sixteenth on a fast track.”
Last November, Venetian Harbor was eighth in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland in the final start of her 3-year-old season. Venetian Harbor has won three stakes at distances ranging from 6 1/2 furlongs to a mile.
In the Hirsch at 1 1/16 miles, Venetian Harbor set the pace and finished 3 1/4 lengths behind the multiple stakes winner Shedaresthedevil, who ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.38.
“The track was slow a few days ago,” Baltas said. “She came out of it really good. That’s the main thing.”