Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Sharp Samurai out of BC Mile
ARCADIA, Calif. – Sharp Samurai, who has won five stakes in the last 18 months, will miss the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 because of illness, trainer Mark Glatt said on Thursday.
Sharp Samurai has been diagnosed with a throat infection and is undergoing treatment, Glatt said.
“He’s not going to run,” Glatt said. “You have to be 110 percent ready to run in those races.”
The illness was diagnosed last Saturday. Sharp Samurai was pre-entered for the BC Mile on Monday with the hope the illness would quickly subside.
“We monitored it,” Glatt said. “We thought it would be something he could get over, but it will not be in time for the race.”
Sharp Samurai has won 8 of 14 starts and earned $735,270. He won the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita on Oct. 6 for his first stakes win this year. As a 3-year-old in 2017, Sharp Samurai won four consecutive stakes, including the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby and Grade 2 Twilight Derby.
The absence of Sharp Samurai will allow the 5-year-old gelding Mustashry to join the field from the list of also-eligibles. The BC Mile will have a maximum of 14 starters. The race drew 21 pre-entries, leaving seven horses on an alsoeligible list.
Trained in England by Michael Stoute, Mustashry has won 7 of 15 starts and earned $386,496, all for Shadwell Stable. Mustashry won the Group 2 Joel Stakes at seven furlongs at Newmarket Racecourse on Sept. 28, his third stakes win in his last four starts.
Bellafina all business in work
A little later than expected, Bellafina, the expected favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs on Nov. 2, had her final workout at Santa Anita on Thursday, going a half-mile in 47.40 seconds.
The workout was delayed by approximately 10 minutes to allow a horse ambulance to transport a horse off the track who had pulled up in the stretch while training.
The delay did not seem to bother Bellafina, who stood quietly against the outside rail of the turn.
“She’s content standing and that’s good,” trainer Simon Callaghan said. “It would be worse if we had an anxious horse.”
Bellafina worked alone and finished with interest. Callaghan timed her final furlong in 11 seconds. He clocked Bellafina galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.60.
A Quality Road filly owned by Kaleem Shah, Bellafina has won three consecutive graded stakes at Del Mar and Santa Anita, including the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes at 1 1/16 miles by 6 1/4 lengths on Sept. 29. Since that race, Bellafina has had two half-mile workouts, and one at five furlongs.
“She had three breezes, which is good,” Callaghan said. “It gives her a good foundation. You don’t have to push too much, just keep them the way they are.”
Bellafina has won 3 of 4 starts and earned $488,000. At the Del Mar summer meeting, she won the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs for her first win and followed with a victory in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante at seven furlongs on Sept. 1.
Bellafina was scheduled to be flown to Churchill Downs early Friday.
La Force, second in three consecutive Grade 1 races since early June, worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 in advance of the BC Distaff on Nov. 3.
Trained by Paddy Gallagher, La Force was beaten threequarters of a length by Vale Dori in the Zenyatta Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Sept. 30. Vale Dori is also pre-entered for the BC Distaff, which is run at 1 1/8 miles.
La Force, a 4-year-old German-bred mare by Power, has won 2 of 22 starts and earned $370,800. She has yet to win a stakes.
Anonymity, second in the Grade 3 L.A. Woman Stakes for fillies and mares on Oct. 7, worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 for the Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 3.
Trained by Richard Mandella, Anonymity will be an outsider in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint. She was second in the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap at Del Mar in August.
Blackjackcat back in action
A year ago, Blackjackcat was third in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar as a 19-1 outsider, the end of a successful 2017 season.
Saturday, Blackjackcat will start in an allowance race with a $75,000 claiming option at Santa Anita in his first start since June. The optional claimer, run at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course, is designed to give Blackjackcat a start before he resumes running in stakes.
Blackjackcat is winless in three starts this year, with his best result a fourth in the Grade 3 American Stakes in April. The 5-year-old gelding was seventh in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile in June when the decision was made by owners Al and Sandee Kirkwood and trainer Mark Glatt to give him a rest.
In Saturday’s race, Blackjackcat will start from the outside in a field of five. Gary Stevens regains the mount for the first time since a win in the Wickerr Stakes at Del Mar in July 2017. Kent Desormeaux has ridden Blackjackcat in his last six starts. “He’s drawn well,” Glatt said. Saturday’s race will be Blackjackcat’s first start in a turf sprint since a third in the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes in May 2017. He followed that loss with four consecutive wins, three of which were stakes.
The optional claimer includes the Glatt-trained Law Abidin Citizen, who was fourth in the Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes on the hillside turf course on Sept. 28, and Rest ra in edv eng en ce, who won the Oceanside Stakes at a mile on turf for 3-year-olds in July.