ARCADIA, United States (AFP) - Mitole lived up to his billing in the US$2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Saturday, capping a dominant career in which he never finished off the board.
Trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Ricardo Santana, Mitole was tipped as the horse to beat in the six-furlong race on Santa Anita's dirt track.
It was Shancelot who actually went off the 3-2 favourite surging to the lead under Jose Ortiz and looking good as they rounded the turn for home.
But Santana's perfectly judged ride saw Mitole, sent off at 9-5, strike as Shancelot began to tire, running him down with room to spare in a 1 1/4-length win.
Shancelot held on for second over Whitmore.
Mitole, winner of six of seven starts this year, became the second horse to win the Grade One Met Mile and the Breeders' Cup Sprint in the same year, after Gulch in 1988.
The four-year-old is headed to a breeding career next year.
