Whitmore goes after a third straight BC Sprint berth in Phoenix

Imperial Hint earned himself yet another trip to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with his hard-fought victory over Firenze Fire in Saturday’s Grade 1 Vosburgh.

But Imperial Hint may not be the only horse going back to the Sprint for a third straight year. On Friday, Whitmore will try to earn his way back to the race for the third straight time when he faces 10 rivals in the Grade 2 Phoenix at Keeneland, which awards the winner a berth in the Sprint.

Whitmore finished a troubled eighth in the 2017 Sprint at Del Mar after earning a berth with nose victory in the Phoenix. Last year, running over his home base at Churchill Downs, Whitmore finished second in the Sprint, 3 1/4 lengths behind Roy H, who won the race for the second straight year. Whitmore, now 6, became a Grade 1 winner in 2018 when he upset the Forego at Saratoga and has career earnings of nearly $2.6 million.

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Whitmore has started just four times since the 2018 Sprint. He captured his 2019 debut, the Hot Springs Stakes, last winter at Oaklawn Park and followed that with a second-place effort over the same track in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap. But he went off form a bit later that spring, finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes and eighth in the Grade 2 True North at Belmont Park.

“He got stepped on coming out of the gate in the True North and tore his hind shoe off,” said Ron Moquett, who trains Whitmore and owns him with Robert LaPenta. “That gave us a reason to give him a break while it was healing.”

Moquett said Whitmore has trained forwardly for his return, with a bullet five-eighths at Churchill in 59 seconds on Sept. 12.

“He’s coming up to the Breeders’ Cup from a different route than the previous two years,” Moquett said. “He’s doing very well. We’ll see if I have enough fitness in him for this upcoming race, after which we’ll make a decision on the Breeders’ Cup. We have to take advantage of the opportunities we get with a horse like this, with our goal every year to try to peak out for the big races.”

Whitmore will break from post 3 under new rider Joel Rosario in the Phoenix.

The lineup for the Phoenix is headed by Promises Fulfilled, who has already earned a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint by virtue of his victory in the Grade 2 John Nerud on July 6 at Belmont Park. Other key contenders include Diamond Oops, a distant second behind Imperial Hint in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga; California invader American Pastime, the fourth-place finisher in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Sprint; and Recruiting Ready.

The Phoenix is one of two Breeders’ Cup Challenge races for the Sprint this week. The Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Saturday is expected to have a small field led by 3-year-olds Shancelot and Omaha Beach.

The big news in the division this week was the announcement by trainer Peter Miller that two-time reigning BC Sprint winner Roy H would not return to defend his title next month at Santa Anita. Roy H has not fully recovered from a foot injury that forced him to scratch out of the Dubai Golden Shaheen in March. Roy H has had only one three-furlong work since returning to training.

“It was just asking too much of him too soon to get back to the Breeders’ Cup,” Miller said. “He worked well, but I wasn’t thrilled with his feet coming out of the work.

“I don’t think he’s done racing, he’s just out of the Breeders’ Cup.”