Breeders' Cup Distaff: Sheer Drama will be fresh

Sheer Drama’s final road trip of the year will be a 15-hour van ride from Gulfstream Park to Keeneland, where on Oct. 30 she will be favored to win a third straight Grade 1 race.

Not just any Grade 1. It is the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and with Beholder likely headed to the BC Classic, Sheer Drama currently is the horse to beat in the Distaff.

“I certainly would rather be the favorite than 30-1,” trainer David Fawkes said this week from Gulfstream, where Sheer Drama has been based all year. It’s where she began her 2015 campaign in January by finishing second as a 37-1 outsider in a sprint stakes.

“She’s matured,” Fawkes said, explaining her development at age 5.

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“Things don’t bother her that bothered her when she was younger. She would not settle down, she just would not settle.” Sheer Drama still has a “high energy level,” but Fawkes said it is manageable.

Sheer Drama made three starts this year at Gulfstream, culminating with a Grade 2 romp in March, after which it was all road trips. She shipped twice to Churchill Downs to finish second in stakes, won her first Grade 1 in the Delaware Handicap in July, and finally shipped to Saratoga for a decisive victory Aug. 29 in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign.

Her seven starts this year include three wins and four seconds for owner and breeder Harold Queen. Sheer Drama is a Burning Roma sibling to the Queen-owned and -bred Big Drama, the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner sired by Montbrook and trained by Fawkes. Are there similarities between Sheer Drama and Big Drama?

“Not even remotely,” Fawkes said. “The only thing is they are well-balanced horses, and they’re not oversized. They’re not heavy, clunky horses. [Sheer Drama] is a lighter-framed, lighter-built horse. She is easier on herself.”

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Fawkes is comfortable bringing Sheer Drama up to the Breeders’ Cup off a two-month break. The timing of the Personal Ensign ruled out a start between. No big deal. Big Drama won the BC Sprint with a similar pattern.

“I campaigned her brother all through [the summer] and then gave him 10 weeks off, and it worked out perfect,” he said. “A couple weeks before the Breeders’ Cup, he got really, really good. I’m hoping the weather cools off a little bit. All the horses seem to do a little better in the fall. I think [Sheer Drama] will be coming into the race really good, and like [Big Drama], she’s not difficult to keep fit.”

Sheer Drama worked five furlongs last Sunday at Gulfstream and is expected to work three more times before shipping Oct. 21 to Keeneland.

Joe Bravo is Sheer Drama’s jockey.

“He’s riding her with so much confidence,” Fawkes said. “That makes a huge difference. I don’t believe that every rider fits every horse, but he fits her really well. He knows her idiosyncrasies; she does everything right for him.”

Three prep races ahead

The final three BC Distaff prep races will be run this weekend and next at Santa Anita, Belmont Park, and Keeneland.

On Saturday at Santa Anita, Beholder tops a small field in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes. Warren’s Veneda will make her first start in two months after her summer campaign was derailed by a foot bruise. My Sweet Addiction and Oscar Party are likely to run.

On Saturday at Belmont, Wedding Toast is scheduled to return from a four-month layoff as one of the favorites in the Grade 1 Beldame. The field is expected to include the 3-year-old Curalina and House Rules.

On Oct. 4 at Keeneland, the Grade 1 Spinster field is expected to include Untapable, the 2014 BC Distaff winner; Lovely Maria, the Kentucky Oaks winner in the spring; and Frivolous. Stellar Wind, based in California, is possible.