Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint: Book Review looking fresh and fit

Bob Baffert said he is happy with how Book Review is training toward the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and with his plan for having 10 weeks between starts for the 4-year-old filly.

“She runs well fresh, and that’s pretty much the way I want her for this,” Baffert said this week from Santa Anita in California, where the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint will be run Nov. 2.

Book Review just missed catching Dance to Bristol in the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 23 at Saratoga and has had five breezes since then, the latest a six-furlong bullet in 1:12.80 Monday at Santa Anita.

“Obviously the plan is to have her at her peak on race day,” said Baffert.

Baffert also has penciled in Executiveprivilege as a tentative starter for the Filly and Mare Sprint after the filly finished fourth last weekend in the L.A. Woman at Santa Anita.

“Let’s see how she trains the next couple of weeks,” he said.

The Filly and Mare Sprint appears more competitive this year than last year – when Groupie Doll won easily as an odds-on favorite – especially since Groupie Doll was a no-excuse third as the 1-2 choice in the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday.

The Groupie Doll camp remains optimistic despite the performance by the 5-year-old mare in the Grade 2 TCA, a six-furlong Polytrack race.

“We’re looking forward to getting back to the dirt at seven furlongs,” said trainer Buff Bradley.

Judy the Beauty, owned and trained by Wesley Ward, earned a Win and You’re In berth into the Breeders’ Cup by winning the TCA and definitely will ship to California, said Ward. Gypsy Robin, the runner-up, most likely will not run at Santa Anita, according to trainer Mike Puype.

Back in California, Teddy’s Promise stamped her ticket into the Filly and Mare Sprint by winning the ungraded L.A. Woman as the 8-5 favorite. Teddy’s Promise set the pace last year in the Filly and Mare Sprint before fading to eighth, but as a winner of four stakes since then, the 5-year-old California-bred mare stands a much better chance this time around, said trainer Ron Ellis.

From New York, the undefeated Cluster of Stars is still under consideration for the Filly and Mare Sprint by way of a $100,000 supplementary entry, according to Toby Sheets, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. Cluster of Stars, a New York-bred 4-year-old filly, was an impressive winner of the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom on Sept. 21 at Belmont Park to remain unbeaten in six starts.