Breeders' Cup Santa Anita Sprint Championship Preview: Top Three From 2020 Return October 1, 2021 C Z Rocket (left) defeats runner-up Flagstaff (center) and third-place finisher Collusion Illusion (right) in the 2020 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (Credit: Ernie Belmonte) Breeders' Cup Santa Anita Sprint Championship Preview: Top Three From 2020 Return October 1, 2021 By: Curtis "Magic" Kalleward twitteremail Share: share on facebook share on twitter share on linkedin email this article ARCADIA, CA – The top three finisher’s from last year’s edition return as part of the stout field entered in Saturday’s $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G2). The Santa Anita Sprint Championship is a 6-furlong dirt sprint open to horses 3 and up that serves as the eighth event on an 11-race card with a local first post time of 12:30 PM. The race is also a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” event, awarding an automatic berth in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar this November. CASH IN BIG AT THE BREEDERS' CUP! Did you know active subscribers receive our Inside Track wagering guides absolutely FREE? Subscribe today and be the first to receive our upcoming MONSTER wagering guide to the 2021 Breeders’ Cup! Get Racing Dudes Premium Here’s a look at the full field for the Santa Anita Sprint Championship: 1. Dr. Schivel 2/1 – He earned his place in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with his stretch-rallying victory in the 6-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar, his fourth straight score and second in a Grade 1. This 3-year-old won’t be intimidated by facing older horses for the third straight start and he won from the rail 2 starts back over this course and distance in his first start for current trainer Mark Glatt. 2. Vertical Threat 6/1 – He returns to California after winning the 7-furlong Russell Road Stakes at Charles Town in gate-to-wire fashion in his second start of the year while returning to form following a last-place finish in the Bing Crosby. He won the 6-furlong Smiling Tiger Stakes at Del Mar last year but missed the board in both prior graded stakes tries, including the 2020 Pat Day Mile (G2) (sixth). 3. Colt Fiction 8/1 – He won 5 of 6 dirt sprints starting with a maiden-breaking effort last August, though every victory came against much weaker fields than what he faces here. He wired optional claimers going 6 furlongs at Del Mar last time out, earning a career-best 98 Beyer that makes him competitive here, and he finished second behind a gate-to-wire winner in his lone prior stakes try. 4. C Z Rocket 5/2 – The defending champion won 7 of 8 starts between May 2020 and April 2021 but has gone winless in 3 subsequent starts, including the last 2 without Lasix. Trainer Peter Miller has voiced his concerns with this horse’s ability to run drug-free, which he’ll have to do again here. If he returns to form, then Miller could have his second 2-time inner in the past 5 years (Roy H, 2017-18). 5. Flagstaff 7/2 – After several close runner-up finishes in graded dirt sprint stakes, he broke through with a pair of 7-furlong triumphs in Kentucky this summer, incuding the Churchill Downs (G1). He finished third in the 7-furlong Pat O’Brien Stakes (G2) (a head behind C Z Rocket) and could be sharp cutting back a furlong for his second start off the bench. He was second in last year’s race. 6. Collusion Illusion 4/1 – A minor hiccup forced Glatt’s second entry to miss his planned 2021 return in the Bing Crosby, rerouting him to finish seventh in the 5-furlong Green Flash Handicap (G3) on turf. He returns to a race in which he finished third last year and will debut his new blinkers in a race after he fired a bullet 4-furlong work in :47.40 from the gate while donning the hood for the first time.
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