DEL MAR, Calif. – Lovesick Blues, winner of the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes on July 26 at Del Mar, will not start again until the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Trainer Librado Barocio confirmed plans to train Lovesick Blues into the Breeders’ Cup, which means the 7-year-old gelding will go 99 days between starts.
“My gut’s telling me to train him up to the race,” Barocio said last weekend at Del Mar. “He’s good fresh. When I first got him, he fired fresh. I might follow the same pattern unless he’s going crazy. Then, I’ll look for something.”
Barocio ’s Mia Familia Racing Stables purchased Lovesick Blues last year from owner-breeder Nick Alexander. In his first start for Barocio on March 8, after a seven-month layoff, Lovesick, Blues finished second in the Grade 3 San Simeon on turf at Santa Anita. He later won the Siren Lure on turf at Santa Anita, and scored at 18.60-1 when he switched to dirt for the Bing Crosby.
Lovesick Blues earned a career-high 105 Beyer Speed Figure winning the six-furlong Bing Crosby. The win was his ninth from 41 starts; Lovesick Blues has earned $770,000. In five starts for Barocio, Lovesick Blues has won two races and $338,000.
Because he was not nominated to the Breeders’ Cup as a foal, a $100,000 fee is required to make Lovesick Blues eligible.
Lovesick Blues is nominated to the seven-furlong Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes on Saturday at Del Mar, but Barocio never intended to start Lovesick Blues again this summer. A Breeders’ Cup prep was considered for the Santa Anita autumn meet, but Barocio now plans to train him up to the event.
“I don’ think I need to run against the big boys [in fall at Santa Anita],” Barocio said. “I don’t want to take anything out of him. I want to keep it in him.”
Lovesick Blues, whose rider is Geovanni Franco, has been galloping daily at Del Mar according to Barocio. If he wins the BC Sprint off a 99-day break, it would be the second-longest by a BC Sprint winner. Precisionist won the 1985 BC Sprint off a 133-day layoff, from June 23 to Nov. 2.
Lovesick Blues will try to join three others who won the BC Sprint as 7-year-olds: Cardmania, 1993; Elmhurst, 1997; and Whitmore, 2020.
Straight No Chaser progressing
The 2024 BC Sprint winner Straight No Chaser continues to progress toward his autumn comeback.
“The last couple weeks here at Del Mar, he’s really started to come back to himself and show us he’s back,” trainer Dan Blacker said last week.
Straight No Chaser worked five furlongs Aug. 14 in 1:01.
Straight No Chaser, whose most recent start was an eighth-place finish April 8 in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, is targeting the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Sept. 28 for his comeback prep. Straight No Chaser won the Santa Anita Sprint last year; five weeks later he won the BC Sprint at Del Mar.
“He’s doing really, really good,” Blacker said. “I’ve got his works lined up for the rest of his time at Del Mar, leading up to the Santa Anita Sprint. Just a very similar path to last year, and hopefully we can repeat.”
Straight No Chaser will try to join Midnight Lute (2007-08) and Roy H (2017-18) as repeat winners of the BC Sprint.
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