Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint: Dance to Bristol readies for Gallant Bloom

Dance to Bristol had her final work for the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom over the weekend when breezing five furlongs in 1:00.60 at the Bowie training center in Maryland.

Dance to Bristol will be putting her seven-race winning streak on the line when shipping to Belmont Park to run Saturday in the 6 1/2-furlong Gallant Bloom, which trainer Ollie Figgins is using as a final prep for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita. The 4-year-old filly has not lost since she was second in the What a Summer Stakes at Laurel Park in January.

Besides the Gallant Bloom, one other race will be run Saturday as a possible prep for the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint, albeit perhaps not intentionally so. That’s the $1 million Cotillion at Parx, from which a 3-year-old filly or two might be considered for a turnback in distance in the Filly and Mare Sprint. Sweet Lulu and My Happy Face are among those plausible candidates.

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Meanwhile, trainer Buff Bradley reported that all is well with Groupie Doll after her repeat victory Sept. 9 in the Presque Isle Masters. The 5-year-old mare, an odds-on winner of the 2012 Filly and Mare Sprint and the reigning division champion, returned to light training Saturday at her Churchill Downs base.

“She’s on it,” Bradley said Monday.

Among the other remaining stepping-stones to the Filly and Mare Sprint are two Oct. 5 races: the $100,000 L.A. Woman at Santa Anita and the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland, in which Groupie Doll will be heavily favored.