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Dr. Schivel Earns Breeders’ Cup Sprint Berth With Hard-Fought Bing Crosby Triumph

Red Baron's Barn, Rancho Temescal, William Reeves and partners Dr. Schivel, a 3-year-old taking on older rivals, made the lead in midstretch, then hung extra tough late to capture the 76th running of the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes by a neck Saturday at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif.

The victory in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series Win and You're In contest gave Dr. Schivel a fees-paid berth in this year's Breeders' Cup Sprint, to be run at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

The son of Kentucky sire Violence gave his jockey and trainer a unique double in the $301,500, six-furlong dash – back-to-back scores in the shore track's premier race for sprinters with 3-year-olds, something that's never happened before. The final time in the dash was 1:10.47.

Flavien Prat, Del Mar's leading rider, was aboard the colt for his fourth victory of the day. He now has 17 wins in the first nine days of racing and also a remarkable streak in the Crosby: he's won six of the last seven runnings of the race. Mark Glatt is the trainer of Dr. Schivel and he also was the conditioner of last year's winner, the then 3-year-old Collusion Illusion (who was entered and scratched in this year's Crosby).

Finishing second in the Crosby was Coolmore Stud, Madaket Stables or Starlight Racing, et al's Eight Rings, while running third was the 3-2 race favorite, Madaket Stables, Barber or Kagele's C Z Rocket.

Dr. Schivel, who was making only the sixth start of his career, scored his fourth victory and picked up a winner's check for $180,000 and increased his bankroll to $416,000. The bay youngster had won last year's Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity for former trainer Luis Mendez, then was put on the shelf for nine months before coming back to win an allowance race at Santa Anita in June.

Dr. Schivel paid $6.80, $4.00 and $2.60 across the board. Eight Rings returned $10.80 and $4.80, while C Z Rocket paid $2.40 to show.

In the track's Pick 6 Single Ticket Jackpot wager, there was a carryover for the seventh day in a row. The pool going into Sunday is now up to $566,809.

The Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch heads Sunday's card. First post for the day is 2 p.m.

FLAVIEN PRAT (Dr. Schivel, winner) – “No special instructions; just ride. He broke well, then when we went across the gap, he grabbed the bit. He was running well, pretty much all the way around. He was game late. Good win.”

MARK GLATT (Dr. Schivel, winner) – “They went fast early, maybe not as fast as we thought. Flavien (Prat) rode him perfectly, gave him a good trip, and the outside post was a benefit. This is a real racehorse. He beat the olders today, and hopefully in November he'll be able to do it again. (Scratch of Collusion Illusion?) He grabbed a quarter training yesterday and he just wasn't perfect on it today. It probably would have been safe to run him but the ownership group and I thought it was best to err on the conservative side and have him run another day.”

:21.83 :44.67 :57.39 1:10.47

The stakes win was the sixth of the meeting for rider Prat and his sixth (of the last seven) in the Bing Crosby. He now has 66 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the first of the meeting for trainer Glatt, but his second in the Bing Crosby (Collusion Illusion, 2020). He now has 12 stakes wins at Del Mar.

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Essential Quality Holds Off Keepmeinmind For Jim Dandy Win

In a hard-fought battle to the wire, Essential Quality, the 2-5 favorite, prevailed by a half-length over a tenacious Keepmeinmind to win Saturday's nine-furlong, $600,000 Grade 2 Jim Dandy for 3-year-olds at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The Godolphin homebred's victory in the 58th running of the Jim Dandy stamped him as the favorite for Saratoga's signature race, the $1.25 million Grade 1 Runhappy Travers on August 28. In June, the handsome gray son of Tapit was the decisive winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets.

Essential Quality, who has been piloted by Luis Saez in seven of his eight career starts, defeated four rivals after the scratch of Risk Taking.

Dr Jack broke sharp from his rail post and was followed by Masqueparade, Weyburn, and Keepmeinmind. Saez had Essential Quality in the clear on the outside in fifth, not far off the leaders. Following sharp fractions of :23.81, :47.41, and 1:11.13 on the fast main track, the pacesetter was retreating while Masqueparade and Weyburn were taking up prominent positions as the field turned for home.

But Essential Quality, with a sweeping outside move, bore down on those rivals, while Keepmeinmind, whose sire Laoban won the 2016 Jim Dandy, was snaking his way up on the rail. It then became a race down to the finish line between those two, with Essential Quality pulling clear in the shadow of the wire, stopping the clock in 1:49.92.

It was a nail-biter for Essential Quality's trainer, Brad Cox.

“When they straightened up, I thought, 'Wow we've been wide both turns,' and then we see a horse slip up the inside [No. 4, Keepmeinmind] who looked like he had some run left,” Cox said. “It made for some anxious moments down the lane. Overall, he's a very determined horse. He has the heart of a champion. He's a good horse, he stays on.

“There was a lot of ground lost today,” Cox added. “Luis obviously had to work to win. He got something out of it, I do think that. I think he's carrying a little more weight now than he was leading up to the Derby or Belmont. I think this was a good tightener for him, four weeks out [from the Travers].”

The win marked a second straight and third overall Jim Dandy win for Godolphin, whose royal blue colors scored last year with Mystic Guide as well as with Alpha in 2012. The last time a Jim Dandy winner connected with a victory in the Travers was 2012 when Alpha finished in a dead-heat for the win with Golden Ticket.

Jimmy Bell, president of Godolphin operations in the United States, said, “The really good horses just show up and find a way to get things done and he has seemed to do that every start. Consistency has been his hallmark and it was a battle down the stretch. It was probably good for him, which is easier to say after the race than when they're at the sixteenth pole.”

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For his part, Saez said, he felt confident he was sitting aboard the winner.

“I saw him [No. 4, Keepmeinmind], but I had a lot of horse and I knew he was going to finish,” the meet's leading rider said. “The plan today was not to take too much away from him. He always fights and he always wants to win.”

Essential Quality returned $2.80 for a $2 win wager. Find this race's chart here.

Masqueparade finished third, 2 1/4 lengths behind Keepmeinmind, and was followed under the wire by Weyburn and Dr Jack.

The win elevated Essential Quality's earnings to $3,545,144 and brought last year's 2-year-old champion's record to 7-0-0 from eight starts. His lone career loss came in the Kentucky Derby when he crossed the wire in fourth place.

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Lexitonian Gets First Grade 1 Win In Vanderbilt Upset

A gate scratch in the 2020 edition of the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt, Lexitonian's best showings since then were his two second-place finishes in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby last August and the 2021 Churchill Downs on Derby Day. In the 2021 G1 Vanderbilt, though, he played giant killer, taking the lead early and besting a dueling Special Reserve in the stretch to get the first Grade 1 victory of his career at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Ridden by Jose Lezcano, Lexitonian, carrying six fewer pounds than favorite Mischevious Alex, broke well, taking the lead in the race's opening furlong, with Strike Power and Special Reserve a half-length behind. He maintained the lead into the six-furlong G1 Vanderbilt's only turn, but Joel Rosario on Special Reserve stayed with him, grabbing the lead on the final turn. Going into the stretch, Lezcano did not let Special Reserve get too far ahead, as Lexitonian dug in and passed him in the race's waning yards. Whitmore, seventh early, was able to move up on the rail in the stretch to finish third. Montauk Traffic, Firenze Fire, Strike Power, Three Technique, Mischevious Alex, and Miles Ahead rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the six furlongs was 1:09.35. Lexitonian paid $70.00, $21.20, and $10.40. Special Reserve paid $5.20 and $3.70. Whitmore paid $4.00 to show.

Find this race's chart here.

“I said to Jose [Lezcano] he's a horse who fights. Please get him out of the gate and engage him early. I believe if you engage him early, he will feel the pressure and respond to that. At the half-mile pole if he comes off the bridle, perfect. That's him and he will respond. It's even better if a horse heads him because he'll fight on again, which happened. He stuck his head out in front today,” Calumet trainer Jack Sisterson said after the race.

“This horse is a very good horse. He tries hard all the time. He's the type of horse that needs to be involved and sometimes he doesn't break all that well and has to stay in the back. He broke well today,” Lezcano said after his win on Lexitonian. “Joel [aboard No. 9, Special Reserve] tried to get away from me, but when I dropped my hands, he took off again and won the race.”

Bred and owned by Calumet Farm, Lexitonian is 5-year-old horse by Speightstown out of Riviera Romper, by Tapit. The G1 Vanderbilt victory brings Lexitonian to five wins in 19 starts, for career winnings of $687.682.

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After Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss, Navarro Expected To Change Not Guilty Plea

Trainer Jorge Navarro will likely become the latest in a string of federal defendants changing his not guilty plea, according to documents filed late Friday in an ongoing illegal drugs case. A change of plea hearing for Navarro is set for Aug. 11 before U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil. Navarro is charged with two felony counts of drug adulteration and misbranding related to what prosecutors say is a complex ring of veterinarians, drug makers, and suppliers who worked together to manufacture, sell, distribute and use illegal medications to dope racehorses.

The federal case file does not indicate whether Navarro will change his plea in one or both counts.

Also on July 30, Vyskocil filed an order denying a series of motions from Navarro and other defendants to dismiss the charges against them. Several defendants had argued that they could not be charged under federal drug misbranding laws, in part because they did not commit those violations and in part because prosecutors could not identify legitimate victims of their alleged crimes.

Vyskocil asserted in her order that prosecutors were accusing the defendants of a conspiracy to commit violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and that the alleged failure to identify specific and relevant victims of the crimes at hand does not constitute a valid reason to dismiss the case. Prosecutors have depicted the FDA and Customs and Border Protection as victims of the crimes, along with state racing regulators, since the misbranding and use of the drugs were designed to deceive and evade those agencies. Vyskocil stated those were appropriate and proper victims of the crimes alleged.

Some defendants had also tried to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the Horseracing Integrity land Safety Act (HISA) would soon supersede the authority of the FDA in horse racing under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Vyskocil also did not find that argument compelling, pointing out that HISA has not yet been enacted (it's scheduled to go into effect on or before July 2022) and that legal precedent cautions against the assumption that one new law will automatically alter authorities granted by a previous law. Besides, Vyskocil pointed out, HISA is not concerned with the misbranding of drugs, but rather the use of drugs in horse racing. The former is the basis for the federal charges against Navarro and his co-defendants.

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On July 23, federal defendant Michael Kegley altered his plea to guilty in the case, admitting he marketed and sold adulterated substances to trainers and veterinarians, knowing there was no valid prescription for them and that they were not made in a FDA-approved facility. Earlier this week, a change of plea hearing also appeared on the docket for Dr. Kristian Rhein, who was alleged to help distribute SGF-1000, one of the drugs marketed by Kegley.

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