by Frank Angst
Midnight Lute delivered a spectacular stretch run to win the Sentient Flight Group Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) and secure a spot in Breeders’ Cup history on Saturday at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita Park.
The five-year-old Real Quiet horse rallied from last in the field of eight to win the $1,832,000 race in stakes record time of 1:07.08. With the win, Midnight Lute becomes the first two-time Sprint winner.
Baffert credited owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Weitman Performances with allowing the horse time to come back from minor injuries at the end of last season. Baffert said once he returned to Del Mar this summer, Midnight Lute returned to top form.
“This is the greatest horse I’ve ever trained,” said Baffert, who secured his second win on the Championship Saturday card, giving him seven career Breeders’ Cup wins. “He’ll do things like work 56 [seconds] and change in the morning and come back like he hasn’t done a thing. … He’s just a tremendous athlete. What he did today, you just don’t see horses do that.”
Midnight Lute settled last of eight early through a quarter-mile cut by First Defence in :21.28. First Defence faded on the turn as Fatal Bullet secured the lead and opened a 1 1/2-length advantage in the stretch.
Midnight Lute launched a six-wide rally on the far turn and was gaining ground with each stride late, before finally forging ahead to a 1 3/4-length victory. Grade 3 winner Fatal Bullet held second, 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Grade 1 winner Street Boss, who rallied from seventh to finish third.
Winning jockey Garrett Gomez became the first jockey to win three Championship Saturday races and first to win four Breeders’ Cup races on a single weekend. Gomez also teamed with Baffert to win the Juvenile (G1) on Midshipman and he guided Albertus Maximus to victory in the Dirt Mile.
Champion sprinter Midnight Lute joins the short list of two-time Breeders’ Cup winners that includes Bayakoa (Arg), Da Hoss, High Chaparral (Ire), Lure, Miesque, Ouija Board (GB), and Tiznow.
With the win, Midnight Lute improved his career record to six wins in 13 starts with earnings of $2,690,600.
For a video replay of the Breeders' Cup Sprint, click here.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Frank Angst is senior writer of Thoroughbred Times