Vasilika out of Breeders’?

Trainer and co-owner Jerry Hollendorfer on Tuesday all but confirmed that Vasilika would not seek her eighth straight victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.

“We have races out here, too,” Hollendorfer said, mentioning the Goldikova (Nov. 4 at Santa Anita) and the Matriarch (Dec. 2 at Del Mar). “We’ve taken major steps forward and I don’t see the point of trying to put her in with the best horses in the world right now. I’m not saying she couldn’t do it, but now is not the time.”

Hollendorfer claimed Vasilika for $40,000 out of a victory Feb. 18 at Santa Anita, and — after losing by a neck in her next start — she has won seven straight. The first five came in allowance and starter-allowance events, and then she won the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar and the Sept. 29 Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita.

The Rodeo Drive Stakes was a “win and you’re in” event guaranteeing a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf plus $60,000 to cover entry, starter and travel costs.

Vasilika still is not nominated to the Breeders’ Cup, program, and it would cost her owners $100,000 to make her eligible.

“If you look at the way we handled her, the reason she got to where she is is that we handled her very conservatively,” Hollendorfer said. “She just kept getting better and better and instead of taking too big of a step forward, we gave her a chance to compete against lesser and in the long run, she became a Grade 1 winner.”

Had the Breeders’ Cup been held at Santa Anita this year, Hollendorfer might have been more inclined to run Vasilika.

“It’s not this year, but it is next year,” he said.