Dr. Schivel: Hopes remain high despite disappointing end to 2021

Dr. Schivel was so consistent through his first four starts, sweeping three in a row before missing by what trainer Mark Glatt described as “a miserable inch” in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, that the connections thought a strong Malibu Stakes (G1) performance would ensure the Eclipse Award as the nation’s leading sprinter.

Instead, Flightline all but flew to an ethereal 11 1/2-length victory while Dr. Schivel threw in an uncharacteristic clunker. He struggled home last of seven, finishing 19 1/2 lengths behind the untouchable winner and dimming his Eclipse prospects.

[Flightline is this generation's fastest horse through 3 starts]

Just as the bay son of Violence was not himself during the Dec. 26 Malibu at Santa Anita, Glatt could tell something was wrong once the 3-year-old returned to the barn. The colt spiked a low-grade fever and showed signs of a viral infection. “He was going into it in tip-top condition,” the trainer said. “I imagine it was just starting to come on.”

It also hurt the cause that Dr. Schivel and jockey Juan Hernandez endured a difficult trip. According to the Equibase chart of the seven-furlong Malibu, the youngster “got pinballed and squeezed between runners early.” He lost precious ground when he was four wide and then five wide around the final turn as Flightline, a highly regarded son of Tapit making his third career start, found a gear others could not possibly match.

The outcome left the issue of champion sprinter very much open to debate. All of the premier candidates have chinks in their armor.

Aloha West, who nipped Dr. Schivel at the last instant in the Sprint? “It’s hard to give it to a horse that won one stake this year,” Glatt said. “But it was the Breeders’ Cup.”

Jackie’s Warrior? “It’s hard to give it to Jackie’s Warrior because he didn’t show up for the big dance,” Glatt noted. “He didn’t run his race on the big day. My horse certainly did.” Jackie’s Warrior ran a dull sixth.

Dr. Schivel registered impressive results before one of the most agonizing defeats in Breeders’ Cup history. He returned from a nine-month layoff to win an allowance optional claiming race at Santa Anita on June 18. He took a huge step up in the July 31 Bing Crosby (G1) at Del Mar and responded by defeating Eight Rings by a neck.

He overcame great adversity in the Oct. 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G2), dispatching Flagstaff by 3 1/4 lengths even though jockey Flavien Prat had his right rein snap early in the contest. The Malibu represented the only time he competed against only 3-year-olds. He went off as the second choice in the wagering after rising star Flightline, who had Prat aboard.

The current illness is making it difficult to target races for 2022. Glatt and co-owner Tim Cohen cannot wait to take another crack at the Sprint, which will be held at Keeneland. Before that, they want to stretch him out a bit.

“We will get him a mile. Whether it’s on the West Coast or the East Coast, I’m not sure. But we’ll certainly get him going to a mile at one point,” said Cohen. “I think it will help him from the stallion aspect. It also provides additional opportunities for him with regard to races, especially out in California. It’s a little hard to be one-dimensional out here.”

Glatt is confident Dr. Schivel will improve at 4. “A one-turn mile would probably be well within his wheelhouse,” the trainer said.

His first priority, though, is to make certain the horse returns 100 percent healthy. He emphasized that any planning must be put on hold until that happens because of the number of variables involved.

“Does he lose any weight? Does he snap out of this in the next few days? I expect that might be the case going by what I’m seeing initially, but you never know which way these things are going to go,” Glatt said. “We can’t really make any plans with him moving forward until we know what we are going to do with him in the short term.”

Meanwhile, they continue to digest how costly the combination of a “miserable inch” and the Malibu might be.

“He’s exaggerating,” Cohen said of Glatt’s Sprint estimation. “It was probably more of a half inch.”