Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint: Ce Ce follows familiar path in repeat bid
The champions Ce Ce and Echo Zulu are on course to meet for the first time Nov. 5 in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland.
Ce Ce won the seven-furlong race a year ago at Del Mar en route to being crowned champion female sprinter of 2021. Echo Zulu took down the Eclipse Award for outstanding 2-year-old filly of 2021 for her victory in last year’s BC Juvenile Fillies.
The Filly and Mare Sprint should have strong representation from around the country. Ce Ce, Edgeway, and Slammed are exiting races in Southern California. The prospective starters Goodnight Olive, Obligatory, and Chi Town Lady last raced in New York, and Echo Zulu and Bell’s the One are training in Kentucky.
Ce Ce enters the Filly and Mare Sprint off a win in the Grade 3 Chillingworth at her home track of Santa Anita. It’s the same 6 1/2-furlong race that served as her final prep into last year’s Breeders’ Cup.
“She seems like she bounced out of this race in good order,” trainer Michael McCarthy said Monday. “We’ll kind of follow the same plan we followed last year. Logistics might be a little bit different travel-wise, but the plan is two works before the Breeders’ Cup and go from there.”
McCarthy said it’s to be determined whether both works will be at home or if Ce Ce will breeze over the surface at Keeneland.
“We’re going to kind of let the dust settle for the next week, 10 days, and come up with a game plan,” he said.
Ce Ce is a 6-year-old mare who races for her breeder, Bo Hirsch. She has put up three triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures this year, compared to two in 2021. She’s also won graded stakes at one and two turns in a record that begs the question: Is she an even better mare coming into this year’s Breeders’ Cup?
“She’s equally as good – if not a touch better,” McCarthy said. “It’s hard to say. I think if she’s as good as she was last year, I’ll be happy with that.”
Victor Espinoza has the mount, McCarthy said.
Ce Ce will carry 124 pounds under the conditions of the race. Echo Zulu will tote 122 as a 3-year-old.
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Echo Zulu is settled in at Keeneland, trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. She is coming off a win in the Grade 3 Dogwood on Sept. 24 at Churchill Downs.
Echo Zulu earned a career-high Beyer of 95 for winning the seven-furlong race. She’s now 2 for 2 at the distance. Echo Zulu’s other victory at the trip came in last year’s Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga.
“I think it’s quite obvious that’s what she’s great at,” Asmussen said. “We’re excited about the prospect of running in the Breeders’ Cup.”
Asmussen trains Echo Zulu for L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds. He likes how she has developed over the summer and into the fall. Echo Zulu is by Gun Runner.
“She’s matured nicely,” Asmussen said. “She looks beautiful, strong. She came out of her win in great shape.”
Asmussen also trains Grade 2 Prioress winner Wicked Halo. He said she is being considered for the Filly and Mare Sprint.
Slammed will be looking to earn a spot in the starting gate when she runs Saturday in the Grade 2, $350,000 Thoroughbred Club of America at six furlongs at Keeneland. She was second to Edgeway in the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo on Aug. 28 at Del Mar and since then has worked regularly at Churchill Downs. Slammed’s five-eighths drill in 58.60 seconds on Sept. 21 came in company with stablemate Senor Buscador, who last weekend won the Grade 3 Ack Ack – and a berth into the BC Dirt Mile.
“She’s doing really good here in Louisville,” trainer Todd Fincher said. “She’s in top form, and it’s the right time to take a chance.”
Slammed will have to be made eligible for the Breeders’ Cup. Fincher said a win Saturday would most likely lead to the New Mexico-bred filly being supplemented.
The TCA is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge series race for the Filly and Mare Sprint. The division’s other races offering berths were the Princess Rooney won by Ce Ce and the Ballerina won by Goodnight Olive.
Pre-entries for the Filly and Mare Sprint are Oct. 24. The field will be limited to 14.
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