Carl Spackler the One to Catch in Coolmore Turf Mile

Unlike the infamous movie character he was named after, who is on the never-ending chase for the elusive gophers that call the golf course their home, the horse Carl Spackler is often the one frequently being pursued in his races.

Odds are the copper tour de force will be the one to catch again in the Oct. 5 Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) opening weekend of the Keeneland fall meet.

Equine Carl Spackler has been a standout from the get-go for e Five Thoroughbreds and trainer Chad Brown. The 4-year-old son of Lope de Vega has done little wrong in his career, bringing home the W in six of his nine trips to the post. In his most recent effort, he achieved grade 1 winner status when rolling to a commanding 3 1/2-length score in the Aug. 11 Foustardave Handicap (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course. Carl Spackler, 3-for-4 this year, landed his second consecutive 114 Equibase Speed Figure.

While Brown opted to keep most of his Breeders’ Cup hopefuls back in New York, there were no local prep races that suited the turf mile specialist back in his home state. And so, with a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series win already under his belt from his Fourstardave tally, Carl Spackler takes his show on the road ahead of a possible So-Cal invasion in the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T).

Gaffalione, the colt’s rider in his last six outings, will be back aboard for the Turf Mile as the pair depart from the outermost 9-hole.

Apart from likely post-time favorite Carl Spackler, Brown will saddle New York-bred sensation Spirit of St Louis and two-time stakes winner Running Bee in Saturday’s $600,000 contest.

Spirit of St Louis has been sensational against state-bred company and even captured the Danger’s Hour Stakes versus open company earlier this year for partners Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, and Richard Schermerhorn. The Medaglia d’Oro gelding has won all but one of his four starts this year, barring a nose loss last time out in the 1 1/16-mile West Point Handicap at Saratoga.

Calumet Farm’s Running Bee, while not quite the grade 1 winner of Carl Spackler, brings an accomplished record in his own right into the Turf Mile. The son of the late English Channel has posted two black-type victories this year in the Monmouth Stakes (G3T) and more recently in the Sept. 1 Bernard Baruch Stakes at Saratoga.

More Than Looks , making his second start off a nine-month layoff in the Turf Mile, will attempt to turn the tables on Carl Spackler. The Victory Racing Partners’ runner ran a gallant second to the Brown pupil in the Fourstardave in his 4-year-old debut.

“He’s doing really well and he got a lot out of the Fourstardave,” trainer Cherie DeVaux said of the More Than Ready colt.

A graded stakes winner as a 3-year-old, More Than Looks finished a respectable sixth, beaten only two lengths, behind his elders in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile. If all goes well Saturday, he’ll make the trip back to the West Coast for another shot at the $2 million prize.

“The Breeders’ Cup has always been the goal even with his abbreviated campaign,” DeVaux said.

The Turf Mile is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, which offers the winner an all-expenses-paid berth to Del Mar. Last year’s Turf Mile runner-up, Master of The Seas captured the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Championship Saturday for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby.