Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile among Mr. Money's trio of options

As of mid-week, trainer Bret Calhoun was more looking to get past the sting of narrowly losing a Grade 1, $1 million race than thinking of what might be next for Mr. Money after the Pennsylvania Derby.

“Obviously, it was a disappointing loss,” said Calhoun, who saw Mr. Money come up a neck short of holding off longshot Math Wizard’s late rally last Saturday at Parx.

“…It’s disappointing to lose because we’d beaten that horse a couple times. We found ourselves on the lead — not a position we wanted to be in. Then we found ourselves on the rail in a position we knew we shouldn’t have been.

“A couple things didn’t go the way we’d planned or wanted them to go, and that probably cost us the race.”

Mr. Money, as a result, saw a four-race winning streak — all in graded stakes company — come to an end.

A trio of scenarios are under consideration next:

• Mr. Money, who looked keen to go early in the Pennsylvania Derby, could shorten up a furlong in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park.

• The son of Goldencents may run out of his own stall he day after Thanksgiving in Churchill Downs’ Clark (G1), a race for which Maximum Security has also been mentioned.

• Or connections may call it a year and point to “big-money races” in 2020, Calhoun said, such as the $20 million Saudi Cup or $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1).

“All those are on the table,” the trainer added. “We’ll just watch and see how he’s doing. We’ll see what develops at the Santa Anita meet over the next couple weeks. We’ll make a decision from there."

Earlier in the year, Chester Thomas, who campaigns Mr. Money under the Allied Racing banner, had said the Breeders’ Cup wouldn’t be an option due to Santa Anita’s well-publicized safety record. A number of new protocols are in place now, however.

The fall meet begins Friday in Arcadia, Calif., giving Mr. Money’s camp time to consider the trip. After a rash of breakdowns, Santa Anita closed in March for both training and racing, then re-opened with a much deeper, slower main track.

“We want to see how that surface plays in the next few weeks and the safety of it being one of the main factors,” Calhoun said.

Mr. Money, who has won five of 11 starts, finished fourth in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile off a maiden victory. After an early season sickness, he started rolling on the Kentucky Derby undercard, winning the Pat Day Mile (G3), then the Matt Winn Stakes (G3), Indiana Derby (G3) and West Virginia Derby (G3) with relative ease before jumping back to Grade 1 company in the Pennsylvania Derby.