DEL MAR, Calif. – It wasn’t long after Bentornato had finished second in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Sprint that his trainer Jose D’Angelo had already begun to think about next year and what it would be like to bring an older and more mature Bentornato back to Del Mar for another try in the $2 million Sprint.
D’Angelo’s long wait will finally end Saturday when Bentornato goes postward as the likely favorite against 13 rivals, including his nemesis and defending champion Straight No Chaser, in the six-furlong Sprint. Barring scratches, it will mark the first time the race has drawn a full field since Whitmore upset the 2020 edition at Keeneland.
The road back to Del Mar hasn’t been easy for Bentornato, who encountered several detours along the way. The final week of his 3-year-old campaign, D’Angelo was forced to scratch his star from a scheduled start in the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita due to a case of bone bruising.
It would be nearly nine months before D’Angelo was able to get Bentornato back to the races for his lone Breeders’ Cup prep, a sensational 5 1/4-length victory in the six-furlong Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sep. 15. Bentornato, a Florida-bred son of Valiant Minister, earned a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure.
“We knew how good he was so we took it slow and gave him all the time off he needed after we discovered the bone bruising last winter, obviously with the Breeders’ Cup always the goal,” D’Angelo explained. “We started back working him at Palm Meadows in June, then brought him to Saratoga this summer. I wanted to have him ready to win his first start back and as a result it got to the point there would only be time to get in one prep before the Breeders’ Cup. The way he’d been training, I was extremely confident he would win that day, although the way he won even surprised me.”
Bentornato had four works at Keeneland prior to returning to Del Mar, just the way his trainer had hoped he would – bigger, stronger, and more mature than when he came to the Sprint 12 months ago.
“He’s grown and definitely matured mentally. He’s more focused and classy and able to rate a lot better now than last year,” said D’Angelo. “I’m very happy with the draw [post 10] being outside for change. Ideally he’ll be able to sit just off the leaders as he did in his last race. It’s a big field, but I’m not worried because he’s an extremely fast horse who should be able to stay out of trouble.”
Like Bentornato, Straight No Chaser comes into the rematch with only a single start following an extended layoff of his own. Straight No Chaser was third behind Imagination in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Sept. 28. Straight No Chaser began his campaign with a convincing victory in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia but then finished a disappointing eighth a month later in the Dubai Golden Shaheen. Straight No Chaser went to the sidelines until the Santa Anita Sprint Championship.
Trained by Dan Blacker, Straight No Chaser will attempt to become just the fourth horse to register back-to-back victories in the Sprint.
“The difference between this year and last year, is last year he came into the Breeders’ Cup off an easy victory in the Santa Anita Sprint, and this year he missed a couple of weeks of training at the end of Del Mar due to a skin infection.
“[In this year’s Santa Anita Sprint Championship,] drawing an inside post meant he had to take pressure the whole way, set some significant fractions, and it took its toll at the end.”
Straight No Chaser is also well drawn in the bulky lineup. He will break from post 12 under regular rider John Velazquez.
Trainer Richard Mandella made a last-minute decision to enter both the filly Kopion and Big City Lights in the Sprint. Kopion would have been the likely favorite in the Filly and Mare Sprint earlier on the card, while Big City Lights has not started since dominating the California Cup Sprint in January.
“I thought since she and Tamara were doing so well, they both deserved their own individual chances, which is why I decided to split them up,” Mandella noted when asked his reasoning for shifting Kopion to the Sprint. “Obviously we weren’t happy drawing the rail but I’m not even going to worry about it. I’ll just leave it up to Mike [Smith].”
Imagination returned from an eight-month layoff to win the Santa Anita Sprint Championship and do so despite finishing under a hold while lugging in and hampering his rider through much of the final furlong.
“We’ve always been high on him and I thought the freshening helped,” said trainer Bob Baffert. “He won the Santa Anita Sprint under a stranglehold and if he can repeat that race, it should put him right in the mix.”
Like the late-running Imagination, Banishing is another who should benefit from a rapid pace and come running during the closing stages of the Sprint. He will compete with Chad Summers listed as his official trainer, although it is David Jacobson who opted to turn Banishing back in distance and prepared the multiple graded stakes winner for the race.
“He’s going to run his race,” said Jacobson. “It’s just can he get up in time?”
Lovesick Blues, Patriot Spirit, Dr. Venkman, Nakatomi, American Stage, Mullikin, Mad House, and Whatchatalkinabout complete the field.
– additional reporting by David Grening
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