Shackleford Gains Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Berth Following Metropolitan Handicap Win
ELMONT, N.Y. (May 28, 2012) – Reversing the order of finish from the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Michael Lauffer and Bill Cubbedge’s 4-year-old homebred Shackleford outlasted McNeill Stables’ and Cheyenne Stables’ Caleb’s Posse by a nose to win Monday’s Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park and earned an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge is a global series of 73 stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting berths into a corresponding race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will be held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., November 2-3. The Met Mile was the first North American qualifying race for the Breeders’ Cup this year, following “Win and You’re In” races in South Africa, Australia and Argentina.
Breeders’ Cup will pay the $30,000 in entry fees for Shackleford to start in the Dirt Mile and will also provide the stable with a $10,000 travel allowance to California for the Championships.
Trained by Dale Romans and ridden to victory by John Velazquez, Shackleford, the 2011 Preakness Stakes winner, finished second to Caleb’s Posse by four lengths in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs.
“Our two main goals for him (Shackleford) this year were to win the Met Mile and the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile,” said Lauffer in the winner’s circle following the race. “We’ve accomplished the first one and now we’ll go after the second. The ‘Win and You’re In’ is a great incentive.”
In addition to the automatic berth, as the foal nominators of Shackleford, Lauffer and Cubbedge receive a $10,000 bonus from the Breeders’ Cup.
Shackleford completed the one mile in 1:33.30 over a fast track. The favored To Honor and Serve, Caixa Electronica, Jackson Bend and Saginaw completed the order of finish.
Watch the replay:
The complete 2012 Breeders’ Cup Challenge series schedule: http://members.breederscup.com/challenge/schedule.aspx
