ARCADIA, Calif. - Mitole ended his career like the true champion he is, wearing down a loose on the lead Shancelot to register a 1 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita. Mitole, who is certain to be voted Sprint champion for 2019, remains in the conversation for Horse of the Year honors. He is scheduled to stand stud next season at Spendthrift Farm.    The six-furlong Sprint, widely regarded as the most compelling race on Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup program, lost some of that luster when four-time Grade 1 winner Imperial Hint was order scratched by state veterinarians due to a minor foot issue earlier in the day. Imperial Hint was one of two horses scratched from the original field of 10, along with Landeskog. Mitole entered the Sprint with five wins from six starts this season, including victories in three Grade 1 races at three different racetracks -  the Churchill Downs Sprint, the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park, and the Forego at Saratoga. The only blemish on his record during the season was a third-place finish behind Imperial Hint in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga when he was hard-used on the lead setting a contested pace while racing in the deeper going along the rail. With regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr. aboard, Mitole broke sharply and was rated within easy striking distance of the pacesetting Shancelot. Mitole angled three wide rallying into the stretch and gradually wore down the tiring leader through the final sixteenth of a mile to win going away. Shancelot, the 3-2 favorite in the Sprint coming off a second-place finish behind Omaha Beach in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, sped to the lead as expected shortly after the start and set a lively pace, posting splits of 21.47 seconds and 44.04 for the opening half-mile. He remained clear through mid-stretch and fought on gamely to the wire before ultimately succumbing to the winner. Whitmore, off a step slow, rallied mildly to best the others while no threat to the top pair, finishing 2 1/4 lengths behind Shancelot. Mitole’s stablemate Engage finished fourth, followed by Firenze Fire, Hog Creek Hustle, Catalina Cruiser, and the Japanese entrant Matera Sky. A 4-year-old son of Eskendereya, Mitole is trained by Steve Asmussen for owners William and Corinne Heiligbrodt. He ended his racing career with 10 wins from 14 starts with earnings of $3,104,910. Mitole completed the distance over a fast track in 1:09.00 and returned $5.60. “He is so easy to be around, he’s nothing but class, and the ability he has is just tremendous,” said Asmussen. “To go from where he was in the spring to stretching out and beating the field he did in the Met Mile, then re-track from that to beat the best sprinters in the country and win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint was a very difficult job, but one a horse of his elite ability is capable of doing. And to win the Sprint rather than the Dirt Mile, he earned twice as much money on the way out.” Asmussen said he was pleased with Mitole’s trip from the outset. “When he broke well, I loved it,” said Asmussen. “Ricardo [Santana] knows the horse and he has so much confidence in the horse. We have no control over who does anything in the race. He [Santana] just has to make sure he’s happy with him [Mitole] and he’s happy with you, and the rest will take care of itself.” Jorge Navarro, who trains Shancelot, was gracious in defeat after the race. “I’m very proud of my horse,” said Navarro. “We just got beat by Mitole. He’s the top sprinter in the country. In the world. But wait until next year. He’ll [Shancelot] be all by himself. Everybody has been knocking this horse, but look what he has been running against. I’ll probably be crying tonight, but like I said, he’ll be by himself [in the division] next year and right now we’re happy with that.”