Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint: Goodnight Olive a steady presence as she tries to repeat
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Goodnight Olive remains the strong constant heading into the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at seven furlongs on Saturday at Santa Anita.
A career-ending injury to classy sprinter Echo Zulu and the fatal breakdown of the promising Maple Leaf Mel devastated the divisional ranks but, despite the tumult, defending Filly and Mare Sprint winner Goodnight Olive has held her form.
Trained by Chad Brown, Goodnight Olive captured her seasonal debut, Keeneland’s Grade 1 Madison on April 8. In her most recent start, she earned a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure when second to Echo Zulu in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 26.
Brown also used the Ballerina as the final prep before last year’s Breeders’ Cup success.
“She ran so fast in [the Ballerina], I thought it was best just to not run her until the Breeders’ Cup,” Brown said. “Her last couple of works were great.”
Goodnight Olive has drawn the rail in the Filly and Mare Sprint.
“Tricky draw inside,” Brown added. “Hopefully, she gets out of there clean, gets a good spot, and [jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.] can work his way out of there.”
Trainer Steve Asmussen was happy after Society drew post 7.
“I thought the draw was perfect, and we’ll go from there,” Asmussen said. “Hopefully, she handles the circumstances of the day. The Breeders’ Cup is just different. We have a tremendous amount of confidence in her ability.”
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Society finished seventh in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff after wiring the Grade 1 Cotillion around two turns at Parx Racing, but Asmussen believed her speed would translate to sprints.
“With her talent, if the circumstances allow her, she can go as fast as a horse can go,” Asmussen said.
After finishing ninth of 10 in the Grade 1 La Troienne on May 5, Society has won her last two races, both at seven furlongs, by a combined 16 1/4 lengths. She hasn’t started since a 106-Beyer performance in the Pink Ribbon around two turns on Aug. 25 at Charles Town.
“I think where we made the mistake was when we wheeled her back in the La Troienne after the Madison” on April 8, Asmussen admitted. “She just wasn’t herself. I think we learned a bit from that, and we’ve spaced her races since and have been rewarded with some outstanding performances.”
Matareya upset Goodnight Olive in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff on May 6 at Churchill Downs, but then finished 13 lengths behind Society in the Grade 3 Chicago at Ellis Park, and 6 1/4 lengths behind Goodnight Olive in the Ballerina.
Trainer Brad Cox decided soon after the Ballerina to train her up to the Breeders’ Cup with a string of works at Churchill. She looked comfortable breezing five-eighths in 1:00.80 there on Oct. 28.
Yuugiri has won three of her last four, including a gritty pace-pressing score over Wicked Halo in the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America on Oct. 7 at Keeneland.
“Things set up the way we were thinking,” trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. “We were pretty comfortable at the half-mile pole. Wicked Halo was coming pretty fast and went by us. She showed a lot of heart.”
Brisset was pleased with Yuugiri’s workout on Oct. 27 at Keeneland, a half-mile breeze in 48.40 seconds. Brisset told Daily Racing Form that he caught her last eighth in 11.20 with a six-furlong gallop-out time of 1:12.
“I thought that was maybe one of her best works,” Brisset said. “Really, really happy with the way she looked and the way she did it. We weren’t looking for anything too fancy. This is going to be her third race in seven weeks. We know we’re fit.”
Brisset has noticed Yuugiri’s physical maturation.
“When she was 3, she was a little bit more up and down. She was trying to get a little light on us sometimes, we had to manage around her a bit more. She’s stronger, put some weight on. We got her fit, and she’s kind of stayed like this all year.”
There’s a chance the pace heats up in the Filly and Mare Sprint, and that would play to Kirstenbosch’s strength.
A late-runner by Midnight Lute, Kirstenbosch enters the Breeders’ Cup after a rallying victory in Santa Anita’s Grade 3 Chillingworth at 6 1/2 furlongs on Sept. 29. That race came on the heels of a troubled runner-up effort in Del Mar’s Rancho Bernardo Handicap on Aug. 27.
In the Rancho Bernardo, “she had a horrible start, she lost a lot of ground, and it took a while to get going,” said Juan Leyva, assistant to trainer John Sadler. “In her last race, she was able to break with the field. She was able to stay with them without using any extra energy. That was the key, that she was able to maintain her rhythm without having to be over-ridden.”
In the Chillingworth, Kirstenbosch snapped Eda’s eight-race win streak that stretched all the way back to the Anoakia Stakes in 2021.
An even third in the Chillingworth, Eda now gets blinkers for the first time and is expected to prove a strong pace threat for trainer Bob Baffert.
Clearly Unhinged split Kirstenbosch and Eda in the Chillingworth. A lightly raced 3-year-old trained by Michael McCarthy, Clearly Unhinged arguably owns the most upside potential. She hasn’t finished off the board in four sprint efforts.
Three Witches won her stakes debut, the Grade 3 Princess Rooney at Gulfstream Park, a Win and You’re In for the Filly and Mare Sprint. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., she has won both starts since being freshened during the spring.
Meikei Yell’s second preference was the Filly and Mare Sprint, but she didn’t draw into the body of her first choice, the Turf Sprint. A multiple Grade 2 winner in Japan, Meikei Yell has never raced on dirt. While her pedigree is geared mostly to turf, her second dam, Yukichan, was a multiple stakes-winning router on dirt.
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