Dr. Schivel Returns to BC After Nose Loss in '21 Sprint

Trainer Mark Glatt experienced the "toughest beat of my career" when his trainee Dr. Schivel   led in midstretch of the 2021 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar before being caught by a nose on the wire by late-rallying Aloha West  .

"I've tried to forget about it" to date without success, Glatt said of the loss.

He has a chance to put the narrow loss behind him Nov. 4 when Dr. Schivel returns in the $2 million, six-furlong Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita Park, where he is 4-for-6 on the main track.

The sting of the prior defeat "will all be a foregone memory of he could happen to jump up and win this one," he said.

Glatt is 0-1-2 in seven starts in Breeders' Cup races, counting a ninth-place finish from Chatalas  in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita. Blackjackcat  and Sharp Samurai  were the two who respectively showed for the trainer in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) and the 2020 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

The Sprint is not merely Dr. Schivel's last Breeders' Cup opportunity but his final race. As announced late last month, he will stand next year at Taylor Made Stallions in Central Kentucky with a stud fee to be determined after the Breeders' Cup.

A 5-year-old son of Violence  , Dr. Schivel has won or placed in seven graded stakes, recently taking the Sept. 30 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G2) for owners Red Baron's Barn, Rancho Temescal, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, and William Branch. He captured the same race as a 3-year-old in 2021 ahead of his runner-up finish in the Breeders' Cup.

Flavien Prat rode him in those races in 2021. Juan Hernandez has been aboard in three of his four starts this year and returns in the saddle Saturday on Dr. Schivel, who is 5-1 on the morning line in a race headed by Elite Power   and Gunite .

Except for when he was sidelined for much of 2022, Dr. Schivel has been among the top sprinters in California since his juvenile season. He won the 2020 Del Mar Futurity (G1) and the 2021 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar in his top-level triumphs. He is 7-2-3 in 14 overall starts with earnings of more than $1.3 million.

"When they're as good as he is, they're pretty easy to train," Glatt said. "You just kind of try and keep him healthy and happy. And he's a special horse. Hopefully, we can call him a grade 1 winner at 2,3, and maybe now 5 years old."