Trainer Mark Glatt experienced the "toughest beat of my career" when his trainee Dr. Schivel led in midstretch of the 2021 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar before being caught by a nose on the wire by late-rallying Aloha West .
"I've tried to forget about it" to date without success, Glatt said of the loss.
He has a chance to put the narrow loss behind him Nov. 4 when Dr. Schivel returns in the $2 million, six-furlong Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita Park, where he is 4-for-6 on the main track.
The sting of the prior defeat "will all be a foregone memory of he could happen to jump up and win this one," he said.
Glatt is 0-1-2 in seven starts in Breeders' Cup races, counting a ninth-place finish from Chatalas in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita. Blackjackcat and Sharp Samurai were the two who respectively showed for the trainer in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) and the 2020 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
The Sprint is not merely Dr. Schivel's last Breeders' Cup opportunity but his final race. As announced late last month, he will stand next year at Taylor Made Stallions in Central Kentucky with a stud fee to be determined after the Breeders' Cup.
A 5-year-old son of Violence , Dr. Schivel has won or placed in seven graded stakes, recently taking the Sept. 30 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G2) for owners Red Baron's Barn, Rancho Temescal, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, and William Branch. He captured the same race as a 3-year-old in 2021 ahead of his runner-up finish in the Breeders' Cup.
Flavien Prat rode him in those races in 2021. Juan Hernandez has been aboard in three of his four starts this year and returns in the saddle Saturday on Dr. Schivel, who is 5-1 on the morning line in a race headed by Elite Power and Gunite .
Except for when he was sidelined for much of 2022, Dr. Schivel has been among the top sprinters in California since his juvenile season. He won the 2020 Del Mar Futurity (G1) and the 2021 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar in his top-level triumphs. He is 7-2-3 in 14 overall starts with earnings of more than $1.3 million.
"When they're as good as he is, they're pretty easy to train," Glatt said. "You just kind of try and keep him healthy and happy. And he's a special horse. Hopefully, we can call him a grade 1 winner at 2,3, and maybe now 5 years old."
Baffert Treads Unfamiliar Territory With Du Jour
Hall of Fame and two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert has captured 18 Breeders' Cup races in his career but the common denominator in those races has been one thing—hey have all been on the dirt.
Of the trainer's 137 Breeders' Cup starters, only four have been on the turf although he did come close in the 1999 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) when the sensational French-bred mare Tuzla fell a neck short of catching Silic at the wire. Baffert's most recent turf starter was Speed Boat Beach, who was ninth in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T).
Baffert will saddle the scrappy gelding Du Jour, 15-1 on the morning line, in the Nov. 4 Mile.
"It's been a while since I saddled (one) on the turf in the Mile," Baffert said. "You just need so much luck in these turf races. You need the trip, you need the seam, you need to catch the seam. You need the post position and to break well."
Du Jour, breaking from the desired middle 8-post with Flavien Prat aboard, does carry some upside heading into the Mile despite Baffert's scant record on the turf. Owned in partnership by Baffert's wife Natalie and Debbie Lanni, Du Jour yields the home court advantage ahead of Saturday's race. The 4-year-old Temple City gelding has knocked heads against the best in Southern California all year and comes into Saturday off two consecutive wins in the Wickerr and Del Mar Mile (G2T) stakes.
In the Sept. 2 Del Mar Mile, Du Jour earned a career-best Equibase Speed Figure of 114 when trouncing favored Exaulted by 2 1/4 lengths in a snappy 1:33.82 for the mile.
"His last two races have been pretty remarkable," Baffert said. "You just don't know what you're up against with these European horses, the'yre so tough. But he's been training very well.
"He's live and he deserves the chance to run. He's a good horse. It's going to be exciting."
An easy-to-rate horse with a versatile running style, if the foreigners stumble, Du Jour could easily be there to pick up the pieces.
Oaks Winner Pretty Mischievous Scratched from Distaff
Godolphin's homebred Pretty Mischievous, the Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner and current leader of the 3-year-old filly division, has been scratched from the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita Park.
Trainer Brendan Walsh told Breeders' Cup publicity: "After traveling, she got a little bit colicky and we had to treat her the next day. She's looked great on the track, but that's just her. She's been a little dull and not showing us what she usually does. I'm not running in a championship race if she's not 100% and, after the great season she's given us, she owes us nothing."
Amid close veterinary scrutiny, there have been numerous scratches at this year's Breeders' Cup. Breeders' Cup scratches can be found on the social media platform X or for Friday's races at Equibase.
Walsh still has two other horses competing at this year's Breeders' Cup: Austere and Lindy. The former, owned by Belmar Racing and Breeding, Bradley Thoroughbreds, Cambron Equine, Tucci Stables, and Gary Finder, runs in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) and the latter for Everest Racing in the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T).
Pretty Mischievous has won four of six starts this year with two runner-up finishes. Besides the Kentucky Oaks, she captured the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2), the Acorn Stakes (G1), and the Test Stakes (G1) this year. Most recently, the daughter of Into Mischief was the runner-up, beaten a half-length by Ceiling Crusher in the Sept. 23 Cotillion Stakes (G1) over a sloppy racetrack at Parx Racing.
With the scratch of Pretty Mischievous, Godolphin remains represented in the race by Wet Paint, trained by Brad Cox.
Pretty Mischievous had been 8-1 on oddsmaker Jon White's morning line to win the Distaff, a higher price than older fillies and mares Idiomatic (5-2), Adare Manor (4-1), Clairiere (4-1), Search Results (5-1) and divisional rival Randomized (6-1).
Other scratches announced Nov. 2-3 for the Saturday races include Bolshoi Ballet from the Turf (G1T), One Timer and also-eligible Twilight Gleaming from the Turf Sprint (G1T), Exaulted from the Mile (G1T), and American Theorem from the Sprint (G1).
