Dr. Schivel makes a winning return to the races May 13 at Santa Anita (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
NYRA Press Office
ELMONT, N.Y.— After a sharp comeback win off a 14-month layoff, California-based sprinter Dr. Schivel will take his talents to New York for the Grade 2, $250,000 True North on June 10, Belmont Stakes Day.
Trained by Mark Glatt, Dr. Schivel earned a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure when defeating fellow millionaire C Z Rocket – second in Saturday’s Grade 2 Triple Bend at Santa Anita – by 4 1/4 lengths in a six-furlong allowance at Santa Anita. The win was the 5-year-old son of Violence’s first start since finishing third in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen in March 2022.
“We were real happy with it. We didn’t expect that, but he did it and he came back well, so now we’re seriously looking at the True North,” Glatt said.
Dr. Schivel was a Grade 1 winner at 2 and 3 at Del Mar when he captured the 2020 Del Mar Futurity and defeated older horses in the following year’s Bing Crosby. He was a close second to Aloha West in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, also at Del Mar.
“He just needed time. I’ve had him now for some time and he just gets a little jammed up at times,” Glatt said of the lengthy hiatus. “He’s a good horse and we just take good care of him. When he starts getting a little jammed up, we’ve got to give him time and he tells us when he’s ready to start doing things again.”
Dr. Schivel is owned by Red Baron’s Barn, Rancho Temescal, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and co-breeder William A. Branch. He is out of the Mining for Money mare Lil Nugget and comes from the same family as Grade 1-winning millionaire Ultra Blend.
