2020 Eclipse Awards: Glass Slippers
The first-ever internationally based winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint was a 4-year-old filly whose name and prior record evoked images of Cinderella. The victory was sufficiently impressive to land her among the Eclipse Awards finalists in the female sprinter category.
Glass Slippers, dismissed at 10-1, got a terrific ride from Tom Eaves, upsetting the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. As the only overseas invader in a full field of 14, her triumph came at a one-turn, 5 1/2-furlong distance that was unlike her prior starts in Europe, where sprints typically are contested on a straightaway.
“She’s just versatile, and going around the bend’s no worry at all,” said Kevin Ryan, who trains Glass Slippers, a daughter of Dream Ahead, for the Bearstone Stud of Terry Holdcroft.
A winner of two starts at 2 and three starts at 3, Glass Slippers made her 2020 debut in the Group 1 King’s Stand at Royal Ascot in June, finishing fifth. After finishing second in the Group 2 King George Qatar at Goodwood, she earned a Breeders’ Cup berth by winning the Group 1 Flying Five at The Curragh. Then came a just-miss runner-up finish as the favorite in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye on the Oct. 4 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe undercard at Longchamp in her final prep toward the Breeders’ Cup.
:: Full list of 2020 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
A comfortable 10th down the backstretch of the Turf Sprint, which has been part of the Breeders’ Cup program since 2008, Glass Slippers enjoyed a dream run in the turn, saving ground and finding no traffic trouble while inching closer to the leading pack. In midstretch, full of momentum, she and Eaves burst through a seam to take control with some 100 yards remaining as a belated rush by Wet Your Whistle fell a half-length shy. Her winning time of 1:01.53 earned her a 104 Beyer Speed Figure.
It “was the right thing to sit down there and ride for a bit of luck,” said Eaves, who rode the filly in all five of her 2020 starts, all in open company versus males. “It paid off.”
Bred by Bearstone in Great Britain, Glass Slippers ended her season with two wins and two seconds and $786,185 from five starts. In all, the 5-year-old mare is 7 for 17 with earnings of $1,123,796. Holdcroft said he intends to race the mare again in 2021, with a return to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar being a logical goal.