Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint: Three champions in oversubscribed field
%20works%20with%20Marsalis%20at%20Keeneland%20Oct%2023%202022.BL_.jpg)
There’s no shortage of class in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
The champions Ce Ce, Echo Zulu, and Letruska were among 17 runners pre-entered in the seven-furlong race, to be held Nov. 5 at Keeneland.
The field size is limited to 14, and other pre-entrants making the lineup are Kimari, whose first preference is the BC Sprint, Chain of Love, Chi Town Lady, Edgeway, Frank’s Rockette, Goodnight Olive, Hot Peppers, Lady Rocket, Obligatory, Slammed, and Wicked Halo. Those needing defections are Fingal’s Cave, Sterling Silver, and Awake at Midnyte, who also was pre-entered in the eight-horse BC Distaff.
Kimari is in the field for the oversubscribed Sprint and so is Chain of Love, but that race is the latter’s second preference, according to the pre-entries. The preferences are non-binding. Final entries for the Breeders’ Cup are due Monday, Oct. 31. Horses cannot be entered in two races to be run on the same day, according to published rules. Both sprints and the Distaff are Nov. 5.
Ce Ce won the Filly and Mare Sprint a year ago en route to being voted champion female sprinter. On the same weekend, Echo Zulu locked up an Eclipse Award by winning the BC Juvenile Fillies. Letruska was the champion older female of 2021.
Now, all three are expected for the Filly and Mare Sprint. Ce Ce and Echo Zulu each won her last start, with Ce Ce taking the Grade 3 Chillingworth for the second year in a row at Santa Anita and Echo Zulu winning over seven furlongs in the Grade 3 Dogwood at Churchill Downs.
Letruska, who won the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn over Ce Ce in a 1 1/16-mile race run in April, is the wild card as she will be making a rare sprint start. However, she is a multiple stakes winner at one turn in victories that include the Grade 3 Rampart at a mile at Gulfstream Park in 2020. Earlier in her career, Letruska won races at 5 1/2 furlongs, 6 1/2 furlongs, and seven furlongs – all in Mexico.
Kimari has won back-to-back graded stakes with outstanding Beyer Speed Figures heading into the Breeders’ Cup and she is the 5-2 favorite for the Filly and Mare Sprint on the preliminary line set by Daily Racing Form handicapper Brad Free. Ce Ce is next at 4-1 and Goodnight Olive follows at 9-2.
:: Breeders' Cup Pre-Entry PPs Now Available - Exclusively with a BC Package
Goodnight Olive will be seeking to win her sixth straight race when she starts in the Filly and Mare Sprint. She earned a berth into the stakes for her victory in the Grade 1 Ballerina, which is a BC Challenge series race at Saratoga.
Ce Ce won a BC Challenge series race earlier this year, the Princess Rooney at Gulfstream Park. Slammed was the division’s other BC Challenge winner, taking the Thoroughbred Club of America at Keeneland. She was made eligible for the Breeders’ Cup at a cost of $200,000.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.