Straight No Chaser want on to win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Sunday’s Grade II Santa Anita Sprint Championship; Dr. Venkman, Speed Boat Beach Among Key Rivals
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.—A year ago, Straight No Chaser parlayed a win in the Grade II Santa Anita Sprint Championship with victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint to earn the Eclipse Award as North America’s outstanding sprinter. He’ll try and duplicate that feat this year beginning with a title defense in the $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship going six furlongs Sunday at The Great Race Place.
Straight No Chaser is among a field of eight entered in this year’s Santa Anita Sprint Championship, which serves as a “Win and You’re In” for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Other key contenders in the lineup are Dr. Venkman, winner of last month’s GII Pat O’Brien going seven furlongs at Del Mar; and Grade I winner Speed Boach, who set the pace in the Pat O’Brien before fading to fifth as the favorite.
For Straight No Chaser, this will be his first start in the U.S. since his half-length victory in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar. Trained by Dan Blacker for owner My Racehorse, Straight No Chaser went to Saudi Arabia in February for his return to the race and promptly scored in the GII Riyadh Dirt Sprint. He then headed to Dubai where six weeks later he finished a disappointing eighth in the GI Dubai Golden Shaheen. Both races were also six furlongs.
A 6-year-old horse by Speightster, Straight No Chaser is 12: 7-0-1 with $2,636,300. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will come west for his regular call on the reigning sprint champion.
Dr. Venkman won the Pat O’Brien by a half-length when coming from just off the pace along the inside under Umberto Rispoli. It was Dr. Venkman’s second stakes win and first stakes win in a sprint. Last year, the 5-year-old gelding by Ghostzapper scored in the GII San Diego going 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar.
Dr. Venkman is trained by Mark Glatt for owners Alipony Racing, Dan J. Agnew, Clint Bunch and James Hailey. In three starts this year prior to the Pat O’Brien, Dr. Venkman was second in both the GIII Triple Bend at Santa Anita and GIII Kelly’s Landing at Churchill Downs, and fourth in the GI Bing Crosby at Del Mar. He has an overall record of 10: 4-4-0 with $661,300 in earnings.
Speed Boat Beach in the Pat O’Brien dueled through opening fractions of 22.53 and 44.87 seconds before fading in the stretch under Juan Hernandez. On Sunday, he’ll have a new rider as trainer Bob Baffert has named Hall of Famer Mike Smith to ride Speed Boat Beach. Hernandez will jump aboard stablemate Imagination, who was a supplemented entry to the field after not being originally nominated.
Speed Boat Beach’s only other start this year was in May at Churchill Downs. Returning from a 15-month layoff in the six-furlong St. Mathews Overnight Stakes, the 5-year-old horse by Bayern flashed speed early before fading to last in a 10-horse field. He comes in with a record of 9: 4-1-0 with $504,350 and in earnings for owners by Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman.
First post Sunday is 1 p.m. Admission gates will open at 11 a.m.
