No Breeders' Cup, but goals are lofty for Battle of Midway

Elliott Walden, president and CEO of WinStar Farm, terms Battle of Midway’s two starts this year as “just OK.” But on his visits to the West Coast, Walden sees similar demeanor in a horse that won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Plus, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer’s “very happy with his breezes.”

Believing the talent is still there, connections have audacious plans for the son of Smart Strike, who came out of retirement this year when found to be subfertile at stud. Battle of Midway will first enter Sunday's $75,000 Comma to the Top Stakes going a mile at Santa Anita Park.

“We’ll get back on track and look for races like the Godolphin Mile and even the Pegasus (World Cup) possibly,” Walden said.

Battle of Midway ran second in his Aug. 25 return to the races, beaten only by this year’s likely Dirt Mile favorite, Catalina Cruiser, in the Pat O’Brien (G2). Second off the shelf, however, he was an uninspiring fifth when shipped for Belmont Park’s Sept. 22 Kelso (G2).

“He ran into a very nice horse in Catalina Cruiser and then didn’t get the best ride in the world in the Kelso,” Walden said. “I think if Flavien (Prat) had to do it all over again — he knows the horse well — but if he had to do it over again he probably would have gone to the lead. He was in the 1 hole, so I think he wanted to not be the pace and get used up.

“But they kind of went slow, and he was kind of strangling him down in there. I think after the race he wished he’d gone to the lead.”

Battle of Midway had been under consideration to defend his Dirt Mile victory.

“The reason we didn’t come here,” Walden said Monday, speaking on the Churchill Downs backside, “is because you’d like to have more confidence in a horse coming in. You never know coming back from that (subfertility). I’ve never had one. I’ll tell you this. He’s not crazy or doing anything. He’s the same horse he was in terms of being around the barn and temperament and everything like that.”

Battle of Midway worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 on Sunday toward the Comma to the Top, which is also expected to include Argentine import Roman Rosso from the Bob Baffert barn.

Last year, Battle of Midway ran second in the Santa Anita Derby, third in the Kentucky Derby and won a pair of stakes before the Breeders’ Cup. His record is 12: 5-3-2 with earnings of $1.3 million.