ARCADIA, Calif. – After being considered for a trip to Dubai later this month, El Potente will remain in California for Saturday’s Grade 2 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita.
Military action in Iran, which led to drone strikes in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday and Sunday, was part of the decision, according to trainer Dan Blacker.
“As it turned out, that was a factor,” Blacker said Sunday. “It’s too much of a risk. We left the door open until yesterday.”
El Potente worked a half-mile in 47.20 seconds on the infield training track at Santa Anita on Sunday. Blacker timed the 7-year-old horse in 47.60.
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Blacker said the decision to remain in California led to a sharper workout Sunday.
“I wanted to make the decision before today’s work,” he said.
Owned by Mike Way, El Potente won the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf by a commanding 3 3/4 lengths on Feb. 7 at Santa Anita, ending a two-race losing streak since the 2025 Thunder Road.
El Potente has won 7 of 17 starts. In the 2025 Thunder Road, El Potente stalked the pace for the first six furlongs and won by three lengths.
The $200,000 Kilroe was downgraded from a Grade 1 in late December by the American Graded Stakes Committee. The purse was reduced from $300,000, the minimum for a Grade 1, to $200,000, the minimum for a Grade 2.
Aside from El Potente, other expected runners are Almendares and Astronomer, who were third and fourth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at 1 1/8 miles on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park; Cabo Spirit, who won the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Dec. 28 at Santa Anita and was ninth in the Pegasus World Cup Turf; and Mi Bago, a four-time stakes winner at Woodbine and Gulfstream Park in 2024 and 2025 who won an allowance race at a mile on turf on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park for trainer Mark Casse.
The Kilroe Mile is part of a strong program that includes three other graded stakes – the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on dirt, the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at a mile on dirt for fillies and mares, and the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds on dirt.
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