Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile possible for Gato Del Oro

Gato Del Oro, who ran the two best races of his career at Del Mar before shipping to Remington Park and finishing third in last month’s Oklahoma Derby, is a candidate for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, trainer Richard Baltas said Wednesday. The race is Nov. 3 at Del Mar.

“Right now, we’re pointing for that, hoping he’ll draw in,” Baltas said.

Gato Del Oro made his last start in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sept. 24, setting a pressured pace in the 1 1/8-mile race. Untrapped won from off the pace by 1 1/4 lengths over Battle of Midway. Gato Del Oro was making his first start beyond a mile, and his first start outside of Southern California.

“I thought it was a pretty good effort,” Baltas said. “The two horses that beat him are both legitimate horses. He ran a good third.”

Gato Del Oro came into the Oklahoma Derby off a runnerup finish to Battle of Midway in the $100,000 Shared Belief at a mile Aug. 26 at Del Mar. One start earlier, Gato Del Oro won at that distance at Del Mar, in an optional $40,000 claiming race. He defeated older rivals, including Giant Expectations, who has since won the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien at Del Mar and with it a berth into the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Baltas said he could make an equipment change for the Dirt Mile.

“I’m thinking about taking the blinkers off and maybe trying to get him to settle a little bit and make a run,” Baltas said.

Gato Del Oro is a son of Medaglia d’Oro. His stakes-winning dam, Funny Feeling, is a full sister to Grade 1 winner Jimmy Creed and a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Pussycat Doll. Gato Del Oro is owned by J K Racing Stable and Bruce Chandler.

Colonelsdarktemper, who ran fourth in the Oklahoma Derby, is possible for the Dirt Mile, according to trainer Jinks Fires. The horse won the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby in August and encountered some trouble early on in the Oklahoma Derby. He was in tight at the three-quarter pole, and Fires said he emerged from the race with a bruise on the shin.

“The hide was knocked off,” Fires said. “I think a horse clipped him with a toe grab.”

Fires said he will see how Colonelsdarktemper does going forward before a final decision is made on the Breeders’ Cup. The horse is based at Churchill Downs, and after Thanksgiving will be stabled at Oaklawn.

Untrapped to New Mexico

Oklahoma Derby hero Untrapped will target the $200,000 Zia Derby on Nov. 22, said trainer Steve Asmussen on Monday. The 1 1/16-mile race is one of the final straight 3-yearold stakes on the national calendar.

The Zia Derby will be part of the Land of Enchantment card of stakes at the New Mexico track that includes the $300,000 Zia Park Oaks.

McCormick, the runner-up in the Iowa Derby who finished seventh in the Oklahoma Derby, could move back to turf for his next start, trainer Ian Wilkes said.

“I think we’ll bring him back and run him one more time, give him a break, and race him next year,” Wilkes said. “I’ve got to find out where. Maybe we go back to the grass with him or try something different on the dirt.”

Wilkes said McCormick could cut back to a one-turn mile, a distance over which he won an allowance in June at Churchill Downs. The son of Hard Spun and the Grade 1-winning mare Affluent races for breeder Whitman Thoroughbreds.

Handle up at Albuquerque

The Downs at Albuquerque closed its 57-date meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses on Sept. 24 with an increase in average daily handle and average daily purses, according to a press release from the New Mexico track.

Albuquerque handled an average $229,453 a day on its races, up 8 percent from $211,772 a day during the corresponding 60-date meet in 2016.

Purses averaged $163,465 a day this meet, up 4 percent from $156,771 at the corresponding meet a year ago.

Alfredo Juarez Jr. was the leading Thoroughbred rider, and Isaias Cardenas was the leading Quarter Horse jockey. Justin Evans won the Thoroughbred training title, and Jesus Carrete was the leading Quarter Horse trainer. Jose Silva was the leading Thoroughbred owner, and Jesus Estrada was the leading Quarter Horse owner.

◗ Oaklawn Park announced Wednesday that it has named retired trainer and former steward Hal Wiggins to the newly created position of racing integrity officer for the 2018 meet, which opens in January. In the role, Wiggins will serve as a liaison among the management of Oaklawn, the stewards, and Arkansas Racing Commission staff.