Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint: Cavorting looking to buck history
LEXINGTON, Ky. – There weren’t many surprises when pre-entries were released Wednesday for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, which shapes up as one of the more fascinating races on Breeders’ Cup weekend.
Cavorting, Stonetastic, La Verdad, Taris, and Judy the Beauty form a core of favorites in a deep cast that also includes such accomplished fillies as Artemis Agrotera, Dame Dorothy, and Merry Meadow. In all, 15 were pre-entered in a seven-furlong race limited to 14 starters.
Cavorting, an impressive winner of the Grade 1 Test and Grade 2 Prioress for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, was scheduled to have her final prerace workout this week before leaving her Belmont Park base. The Stonestreet Stables filly could be a slight favorite despite the fact that 3-year-olds have gone 0 for 24, including four favorites, in the eight previous runnings of this race.
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Also from New York, La Verdad will bring a 5-for-5 record on the year as a supplemental entry to the Filly and Mare Sprint for Linda Rice, who has listed the BC Sprint as a second preference for the speedy New York-bred mare.
Curalina is one of three Filly and Mare Sprint pre-entries for trainer Todd Pletcher, along with Dame Dorothy and Sweet Whiskey. Curalina has the BC Distaff as her first preference, and if she opts for that race, as expected, Sweet Whiskey will make the Filly and Mare Sprint field as the first and only alternate.
Perhaps the only notable name missing from the pre-entry list is Ben’s Duchess, the winner of the Oct. 4 L.A. Woman at Santa Anita for John Sadler.
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Judy the Beauty, who ran second in the 2013 Filly and Mare Sprint behind Groupie Doll before winning the 2014 running, was among a handful of pre-entrants sent through serious works this week, going five furlongs in 1:01.80 on Monday at Keeneland.
“Repeating in this race has been our goal ever since she won last year,” said owner and trainer Wesley Ward. “I love the way she’s coming into it.”
Judy the Beauty was a troubled third as the favorite in her final prep Oct. 3, the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes, a race won by Fioretti, a 5-year-old mare based across town at the Thoroughbred Center training facility. Trained by Anthony Hamilton, Fioretti had her first work since the TCA when breezing five furlongs Wednesday in 1:02.40.
In other Monday works: Super Majesty, five furlongs in 59.60 seconds at Keeneland; Merry Meadow, a half-mile in 47 seconds at Belmont; and Room for Me, a half-mile in 51.40 seconds over the Belmont training track.