Wise Dan's connections hope to see improvement in Shadwell Turf Mile

He’s back! Or is he?

Wise Dan is the gleaming headliner on the last major weekend of North American grass racing leading up to the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and the 7-year-old gelding – a two-time Horse of the Year and two-time BC Mile winner – stands on a strange threshold.

A strong showing Saturday at Keeneland in the Shadwell Turf Mile sends Wise Dan back to Santa Anita for his third BC Mile, where he could become one of only two three-peat winners of a Breeders’ Cup race, along with Goldikova.

But if Wise Dan were to throw a dud – something that does not happen with this magnificently consistent racehorse – owner-breeder Mort Fink might not hesitate to pull the plug.

“If ever he can’t run like he’s running in top Grade 1s, he won’t run at all,” Fink said in a recent telephone interview. “He’s done too much.”

Wise Dan is old for a top-class horse. He has made 30 starts, the first in February 2010. In May, not long after a narrow win in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard, he suffered a scary bout of colic and underwent surgery. Wise Dan only made it back to the races Aug. 30, beating Optimizer by a nose in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch. Yes, Wise Dan was giving 11 pounds to Optimizer. Yes, he nearly set a course record after a layoff.

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But Wise Dan beat an inferior rival by a nose. He is supposed to improve Saturday, and if he is to go to the BC Mile heavily favored again, he’ll have to improve.

It has been a long road for Wise Dan. His brilliance almost has become routine. Someday, somewhere, eventually, he will falter.

“I don’t understand how he does it,” Fink said. “You get wrapped up in this thing for so long.”

Wise Dan has seven Shadwell foes, and Seek Again looks to be the best of them. He came within a head of Wise Dan in the Turf Classic and, despite a narrow margin of victory, was much the best in the one-mile Fourstardave at Saratoga. A convincing win could make Seek Again the BC Mile favorite. Kaigun and Silver Max also figure to have BC Mile aspirations if they show well, and Optimizer is in the Shadwell, too.

The City of Hope Mile on Saturday at Santa Anita shouldn’t have significant BC Mile implications because the three best California milers – Tom’s Tribute, Obviously, and Silentio – are being trained up to the Mile rather than prepping this weekend.

The overseas race to watch this weekend is the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp, a seven-furlong Group 1 that could produce a Mile runner or two.