Becrux Not Eligible for Breeders' Cup Mile

Bell Woodbine Mile (Can-I) winner Becrux is an unlikely candidate for the NetJets' Breeders' Cup Mile (Gr. IT) at Churchill Downs Nov. 4 because he isn't nominated, according to Barry Irwin, president of Team Valor, the syndicate that co-owns the 4-year-old colt along with Gary Barber.

"Becrux is a no, mostly because I don't like paying supplements and we have no idea how he will handle a sand-based turf course," Irwin said in an e-mail Sept. 19.

The Italian-bred gelded son of Glen Jordan, who showed a brilliant burst in the final furlong at Woodbine to win his first grade I race, is scheduled to next run in the Shadwell Turf Mile (gr. IT) at Keeneland on Oct. 7.

"I suppose if he won the Shadwell Mile that I might be tempted to think about it, but having supplemented twice, I can tell you I feel very uncomfortable doing it," Irwin said.

Team Valor's 4-year-old filly Irridescence, last year's South African champion 3-year-old filly who won the Audemars Piquet Queen Elizabeth II Cup (HK-I) earlier this year, is another that is ineligible for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championship and is therefore unlikely to run, Irwin said.

"We can run her for more money in the Orient, where she has won, and she not only does not have to be supplemented, but her travel and ours is completely funded by the racing association," he noted.

Team Valor's best candidate for the Breeders' Cup is the 2-year-old colt King of the Roxy, who runs Saturday in the Futurity (gr. II) at Belmont Park. Irwin said the syndicate's juvenile filly Early Vintage would have been its strongest candidate, but "she missed more than three weeks with a wrenched ankle and is highly doubtful for the race."