San Francisco BC Mile Attracts Sweet Return

The classy 6-year-old horse Sweet Return, a multiple grade I winner who has earned more than $1.6 million, is one of eight horses entered in Saturday's $400,000 San Francisco Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IIT) at Golden Gate Fields.

The SF Mile, a turf event for 4-year-olds and up, is Northern California's richest race and the lone grade II stakes in the Bay Area.

Sweet Return is trained by Hall of Famer Ron McAnally and owned by Red Oak Stable. Bred in Great Britain, Sweet Return has won seven of his 29 career races and $1,623,731.

Sweet Return won a pair grade I turf stakes last year, taking the $350,000 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap at Hollywood Park and the $400,000 Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar.

Sweet Return made his 2006 debut in the Arcadia Handicap (gr. IIT) at Santa Anita on April 8 and finished sixth. It was the chestnut's first race in nearly six months.

Also shipping north for the SF Mile is the Irish-bred Aragorn, who won the 2005 Oak Tree Derby (gr. IIT) on the Santa Anita grass last fall. He missed by a neck of upsetting the field in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (gr. IT) March 4 when second to Milk It Mick for trainer Neil Drysdale at Santa Anita. Patrick Valenzuela makes a rare Golden Gate Fields appearance aboard the son of Giant's Causeway  .

Adreamisborn finished second in last year's SF Mile, when it was run at Bay Meadows.

The French-bred Charmo ran sixth in the Kilroe.

$400,000 San Francisco Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IIT, Race 8, 4:38 p.m.), 4 & Up, (Turf)
PP. Horse, Jockey
1. Charmo (FR), Martin A. Pedroza
2. Aragorn (IRE), Patrick A. Valenzuela
3. Place Cowboy (IRE), David R. Flores
4. Adreamisborn (KY), Russell A. Baze
5. Romeo Plus (ARG), Martin Garcia
6. Hendrix (KY), Dennis Carr
7. Sweet Return (GB), Frank T. Alvarado
8. Ulistnintome (KY), Chad P. Schvaneveldt
Each horse assigned 122 pounds.