10 Sprinters Named for Ancient Title

With Housebuster injured, the Breeders’ Cup Sprint has gone from a race with an odds-on favorite to a scramble, and a contender might emerge today from the $100,000 Ancient Title Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Santa Anita.

The Ancient Title, which is at six furlongs, drew 10 starters. The favorites are Prospectors Gamble and Sensational Star.

Prospectors Gamble, who won two of three stakes earlier this year at Hollywood Park, has returned to California from Saratoga, where the 5-year-old roan had a victory and a fourth-place finish in two tries.

Sensational Star, a former claimer, has increased his earnings to $365,355 with three consecutive victories, the last two in sprints at Del Mar. He barely missed the track record for three-quarters of a mile with a time of 1:08 in the Bing Crosby Handicap.

On Saturday at Santa Anita, Ruhlmann and Lively One will try to earn their way to the Breeders’ Cup for trainer Charlie Whittingham when they run in the $200,000 Goodwood Handicap, and on Sunday, older fillies and mares will compete on the grass in the $150,000 Las Palmas Handicap.

Starting today, after approval by the California Horse Racing Board, Santa Anita will offer its races for betting to Canterbury Downs in Minnesota and Birmingham Race Course in Alabama. Nevada’s race books hope to be plugged into the same interstate network before the Oak Tree season ends, and all of the out-of-state bets will be included in the parimutuel pools at Santa Anita.