Bold Chieftain Attempts SF Mile Defense

Bold Chieftain, who won his first graded stakes in last year's San Francisco Mile, will defend his title at Golden Gate Fields April 30 on the turf after returning from retirement earlier this year.

The San Francisco Mile, a grade II event last year -- and the only one in Northern California for some time -- was dropped a level for this year's renewal with the race taking a purse reduction as a result, from $150,000 to $100,000. It was worth $300,000 as recently as 2009. This year's race, which attracted a good field of nine, is the seventh on the Golden Gate program with an expected post of 3:45 p.m. PDT.

With more than $1.5 million in earnings, the California champion Bold Chieftain's retirement was announced last summer with his final stud plans still to be determined. But the 8-year-old son of Chief Seattle returned to training earlier this year instead. He tuned up with a rallying second in a six-furlong allowance test March 13 on Golden Gate's Tapeta synthetic track.