Bal a Bali Training Toward Kilroe Mile
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Bal a Bali
Fox Hill Farms and Siena Farm's Bal a Bali is currently listed on the Calumet Farm online stallion roster, but if all goes as planned, he won't be visiting any mares this year.
Still in training with Hall of Famer Richard Mandella in Southern California, the 2014 Brazilian Triple Crown winner is working toward a start in the March 11 Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1T) and logged a six-furlong drill Feb. 10 in 1:13 3/5 at Santa Anita Park.
"I gave him some time off, and they thought, if he didn't train well, he could go to stud," Mandella said. "But he's training too good to go to stud."
The son of Put It Back won 11 of his 12 starts in Brazil—which included four group 1 victories—then had to beat laminitis before moving to Mandella's barn in 2015.
Bal a Bali won his U.S. debut in the 2015 American Stakes (G3T) and took a Del Mar allowance in the same year, but has not captured a stakes win since. He did have a four-race run where he placed in California graded grass stakes, however, with a second in the 2015 Seabiscuit Handicap (G2T) followed by third-place finishes in the San Gabriel (G2T), Kilroe Mile, and San Francisco Mile (G3T).
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His 2017 stud fee at Calumet Farm was set at $10,000.