Straight No Chaser Update

Straight No Chaser resumed galloping this week at Santa Anita Park and has remained in good physical order, but Dan still thinks he’s not 100% himself energy wise, which is no surprise given his recent international travels. This is not changing anything in our plan outside of the fact that we will give him some additional time galloping before having him return to the work tab. This will likely take the Bing Crosby out of consideration as he would need to get back to the work tab by next weekend at the latest to have him fit enough for spot, but in our team’s opinion that race was always going to be a bit tough to make. At the end of the day, the main objective and goal for the year is to have him ready to defend his title in 2025 G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and being as patient as we need to be now is the best way to have him fire his best shot when it matters most.

We know Straight No Chaser does his best running fresh and this would put him on an identical plan as last year—returning in the G2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup. Again, he looks great physically and this is simply a matter of trainer Dan Blacker knowing this horse in and out and knowing he’s not fully recouped energy wise from his trip.