Brujo de Olleros confirmed for Dirt Mile

A year after Animal Kingdom finished second to Horse of the Year Wise Dan in

the Breeders' Cup Mile, Team Valor International will return to Santa Anita Park

and look to do one better with Brujo de Olleros in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

on November 1.

A Group 1 winner and track record holder at a mile on dirt in Uruguay, Brujo

de Olleros finished a game second, beaten three-quarters of a length, to

even-money favorite Graydar in the Kelso Handicap on Saturday at Belmont Park. 

The Brazilian-bred horse owned in partnership with Richard Santulli was wide

throughout after breaking from the outside post in the Kelso, which unfolded

with a slow pace that bunched up the field and never allowed jockey Alan Garcia

to save ground. According to Trakus data, Brujo de Olleros covered 25 more feet

than Graydar, who had not raced since emerging as one of the best older horses

in North America with consecutive victories in the Donn and New Orleans

Handicaps last winter. 

"Losing ground and momentum took away from his closing punch, but he still

dug in very hard," Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin said of Brujo de Olleros. "This

horse is legit and he proved it today. Great training job by Mr. Rick Mettee!" 

Team Valor and Santulli purchased Brujo de Olleros in February 2012 after

catching wind of his performance in the Gran Premio Pedro Pineyrua in Uruguay.

Scoring by 14 1/4 lengths, the son of American Grade 1 winner Wild Event broke a

75-year-old track at Montevideo's Maronas racecourse, blazing the mile in

1:33.27.