Reset for Battle of Midway

ARCADIA, Calif. – For a few moments on the turn of the Kentucky Derby on May 6, Battle of Midway was within a length of the lead and seemed poised to play a major role in the outcome. He turned out to be a supporting player, finishing third at 40-1, 7 3/4 lengths behind Always Dreaming.

Battle of Midway was held out of the rest of the Triple Crown and will have his first start of the summer in Saturday’s Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer hopes to use the Affirmed as a platform for a race such as the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 30.

Battle of Midway has little to beat among four rivals in the $100,000 Affirmed, run at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds. Term of Art is the only graded stakes winner in the field – having taken the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille at Del Mar last November – but is winless in five starts this year.

B Squared won the Silky Sullivan Stakes for California-bred milers at Golden Gate Fields on April 30. Arms Runner won the Desert Code Stakes on the hillside turf course on May 13 but has never run around two turns or on dirt. Quiet Dude won a $75,000 claimer for maidens on April 21.

KEY CONTENDERS

Battle of Midway, by Smart Strike Last 3 Beyers: 91-88-84

◗ Battle of Midway’s loss in the Kentucky Derby led Hollendorfer to skip the Preakness Stakes on May 20 and the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

“We didn’t want to put too much pressure on him and run two weeks after the Derby,” he said. “We didn’t feel obligated to do that.”

◗ Owned by Don Alberto Stable and WinStar Farm, Battle of Midway was a halflength from the lead on the turn in the Kentucky Derby under jockey Flavien Prat.

“He looked like he’d loom up there and try to win it,” Hollendorfer said. “I don’t think the rider did anything wrong.”

◗ The margin of defeat left Hollendorfer to contemplate whether Battle of Midway struggled with the distance of 1 1/4 miles in his fifth start or whether the competition – specifically Always Dreaming and Lookin At Lee – was better.

“I think it’s an unknown,” Hollendorfer said. “He didn’t quite have the foundation the other ones did.”

◗ Prat has the mount and is likely to have Battle of Midway

near the front throughout. Since mid-May, Battle of Midway has worked steadily, and sometimes quickly, including six furlongs from the gate in 1:11.80 on June 14.

“We think our horse has trained very well,” Hollendorfer said. “Prat has worked him every time, and he’s been happy every time.”

Term of Art, by Tiznow Last 3 Beyers: 80-79-92

◗ Term of Art was a well-beaten third in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles behind the now-retired Mastery on March 11. He was later seventh in the Santa Anita Derby and was last of 10 in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 20.