Shirreffs is weighing Breeders’ Cup options for Midcourt

Honor A. P. once upon a recent time would have been trainer John Shirreffs’s most prominent candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

That was before an injury forced the sophomore colt to be retired. So Shirreffs is turning to an older horse to represent his barn next month at Keeneland.

“Midcourt is definitely going,” he said. “He’ll be in the Classic or the (Dirt) Mile.”

Looking for his first Breeders’ Cup victory since Zenyatta won the Classic and Life Is Sweet scored in the Distaff 11 years ago, Shirreffs may also send Hard Not To Love into either the Distaff or the Filly & Mare Sprint.

It would be a typically modest presence for Shirreffs, who has saddled 27 starters in the Breeders’ Cup since 1994 with three wins, a second and a third. Zenyatta was responsible for two of the victories plus her famous runner-up finish to Blame in the 2010 Classic.

Midcourt gets his chance after finishing in the money in three graded stakes in as many months – a close second in the San Diego Handicap (G2), third in the Pacific Classic (G1) and third nearly two weeks ago in the Awesome Again (G1). Considering his competition, Shirreffs said he more than belongs.

“Let’s see,” Shirreffs said in a Tuesday telephone interview from southern California. “He’s gotten beaten by Maximum Security by a nose and by half a length. So you tell me how does Maximum Security look?”

A 5-year-old gelding by Midnight Lute, Midcourt will get his Nov. 7 assignment after Shirreffs has a chance to weigh a few factors.

“We’ll look at who’s in the field and how he’s training,” Shirreffs said. “But the pace scenario will be a big thing. Some people have said that he would be better suited to the (Dirt) Mile. But the pace could be different there, so we’ll have to look at that and who’s going to be in each race.”

Hard Not To Love is coming off a second-place finish to Harvest Moon late last month in the Zenyatta Stakes (G2), which drew only four starters. Her biggest win was last December in the seven-furlong La Brea (G1) at Santa Anita.

“Her last race was really good,” Shirreffs said. “She could go to the seven-eighths race (Filly & Mare Sprint) or go to the Distaff.”

For the 4-year-old Canadian-bred filly by Hard Spun, Shirreffs added one more factor that will be a linchpin for his decision.

“A lot depends on the weather back there in November,” he said. “In Kentucky it can be a little dicey. We’ll leave it to a last-minute decision with her.”

Working out every 10 to 14 days, Hard Not To Love most recently went handily over five furlongs at Santa Anita on Sept. 20 in 1:02.2, the same day as Midcourt went the same distance separately in 1:04.4.