Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint: Prep winners would need to be supplemented

Several races last Saturday (Sept. 21) had varying degrees of impact toward the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, most notably the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom at Belmont Park, where New York-bred Cluster of Stars remained unbeaten in six starts with an eye-popping five-length victory, and the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx, where a couple of turn-back possibilities, Sweet Lulu and My Happy Face, put in sold efforts behind Close Hatches.

The result of one other Saturday race, the ungraded Musical Romance at Gulfstream Park, does not figure to affect the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint in a major way, since the winner, My Pal Chrisy, is not nominated to the Breeders’ Cup and is not likely to be supplemented, according to trainer Marty Wolfson. Another Musical Romance starter, Starship Truffles, also did not improve on her BC status by finishing a distant third behind her Wolfson stablemate.

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Cluster of Stars, a 4-year-old filly owned by the Turtle Bird Stable of Harvey Weinstein, also is not nominated to the Breeders' Cup, and trainer Steve Asmussen on Monday was decidedly coy about whether any discussion had been held as to if she will be made eligible by supplement. The publicity department at the New York Racing Association on Sunday quoted assistant trainer Toby Sheets as saying the BC was unlikely for the filly.

“We’re happy about her win Saturday,” said Asmussen.

Plans for the respective second- and third-place fillies behind her, Dance to Bristol and Dance Card, are clearer, as both likely are headed to Santa Anita for the Nov. 2 race, according to their respective connections.

Meanwhile, the defending Filly and Mare Sprint winner, Groupie Doll, had her first workout since she won the Sept. 9 Presque Isle Masters when she breezed an easy half-mile Saturday at her Churchill Downs home base. Trainer Buff Bradley plans to work the 5-year-old mare once more before she makes her final pre-BC start in the six-furlong Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland.

The six-furlong TCA and the 6 1/2-furlong L.A. Woman at Santa Anita, both set for Oct. 5, are shorter races that remain as preps for the Filly and Mare Sprint. In addition, it’s not implausible that either of the major two-turn races this coming weekend, the Beldame and Zenyatta, could yield a runner or two.