Blackout Time was scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Friday, and Mystik Dan could face the same fate for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Star City farmer Lance Gasaway, a former football wide receiver at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, owns both horses as part of 4G Racing, which includes Greg Gasaway, David Gasaway and Daniel Hamby. Lance Gasaway said the Breeders’ Cup veterinarians at Del Mar (Calif.) Park thought Blackout Time “was off in his left heel” and asked his team to produce X-rays.
“Like this morning, they come up and say, ‘Well, he’s off in the rear end right now,'” Gasaway said Friday. “Kenny (McPeek, the trainer) said the horse is working perfect. He was working great, smooth, jogging back and forth, up and down four or five times and everything was looking great, and he’s off. So, they scratched him.”
Gasaway said he had not run into any problems previously with Blackout Time, which had won an Aug. 2 race in Henderson, Ky., and took second in two others. Blackout Time most recently raced Oct. 4 in Lexington, Ky., finishing second to Ted Noffey.
Gasaway said he expects to hear a decision on Mystik Dan by Saturday morning.
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“Same thing; they said they didn’t like the way he was moving,” Gasaway said. “So, they asked us to take X-rays and Kenny said we did the X-rays.”
The X-rays revealed a little roughage in one of the ankles and possible distal bone bruising, both of which Gasaway said are normal for horses in training.
“All of the vets looked at him and said everything looks fine,” Gasaway said. “He’s good. It’s just normal wear on a horse. … Kenny said he feels like they’ll scratch him because they scratched Blackout Time, and wasn’t nothing wrong with him.”
The Juvenile is a race for 2-year-olds that carries a $2 million purse and was the ninth race listed on Friday’s Breeders’ Cup program. Pine Bluff native and handicapper Charlie Cooper had predicted Blackout Time, at 5-1 odds, to beat the favorite Ted Noffey (4-5 odds). Ted Noffey was unbeaten in three starts going into Friday.
The $1 million Dirt Mile for horses 3 and older is to be the farewell race for Mystik Dan, whose 2024 photo-finish victory in the Kentucky Derby brought world acclaim to Gasaway and 4G. The horse will go out to stud in Kentucky, where he trains. Cooper has Mystik Dan finishing second behind Nysos in the 11th race of the day at Del Mar.
Nysos, a Bob Baffert-trained entry to be ridden by Flavien Prat, carried 8-5 odds going into Saturday’s action. Cooper remarked in his predictions Nysos is “definitely the horse to beat.”
Francisco Arrieta is to ride Mystik Dan on Saturday. Arrieta rode Mystik Dan to victory in the Grade II Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Sept. 27. Mystik Dan pocketed $303,040 for the win, according to Bloodhorse.com.
“He likes Churchill Downs. Of course, that’s where he won the Kentucky Derby,” Cooper said Thursday. “He’s been training lights-out, too.”
Gasaway was making his Breeders’ Cup debut. The event is considered the world championship of thoroughbred horse racing and is running in its 42nd year.
The highlight of the two-day program is the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, the ninth race Saturday. It will feature 2025 Preakness Stakes winner Journalism. Sovereignty, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, was scratched from the Classic after developing a fever, according to multiple reports.
“Just because of the way I feel now, if I was ever asked to come out to the Breeders’ Cup again in California, I would pass,” Gasaway said. “It’s cost us a lot of money to come out here and bring these horses out here, my family out here, my grandson and everybody, and they come up and scratch us like this. I would understand if it was something was wrong with the horse that was obvious, but we’ve got a trainer. That’s his job, and Kenny’s not going to run the horse if he felt something was wrong with the horse, especially a 2-year-old that you’re looking to get on the Derby trail with and everything. And why would you take a chance at risking hurting the horse? It’s ludicrous.”
The Breeders’ Cup utilizes a team of veterinarians rather than the vets hired by the track, according to a Del Mar receptionist. Gasaway believes, after talking with McPeek, a commission should be set up rather than give one vet too much authority.
A similar problem is “getting bad” in Kentucky, Gasaway added.
“What they ought to do is have three or four vets selected by different people and then, if they all come up with the same answer, clearly there’s something wrong,” Gasaway said. “Instead of having one vet having authority to do whatever he wants — and, I mean, it’s hurting horse racing. It really is.”
Recent catastrophic injuries to horses at Del Mar in August may be to blame for the extra caution vets at the track are placing, Gasaway suggested. The Times of San Diego reported a 3-year-old gelding, General Jackson, was euthanized after an injury to his right front fetlock Aug. 30. Uncrowned King, a 3-year-old thoroughbred, was euthanized after suffering an injury Aug. 2, the nonprofit news site reported.
“I think they’re just being over-precautious, just because of the optics, especially something on television like the Breeders’ Cup,” Gasaway said. “You don’t want to see a horse break down.”
Gasaway added the perceived over-protection may hurt the racing industry if it continues. Post time for the Dirt Mile is at 5:25 p.m. Central (3:25 p.m. Pacific). The race will air on NBC (KARK-4).