ARCADIA, Calif. – Some trainer is going to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint for the first time. Todd Pletcher took down the first edition of the $1 million race with Bulletin in 2018. He has no starter Friday. Charlie Appleby won last year with Mischief Magic. Nothing this year. And Wesley Ward, who won in 2019 with Four Wheel Drive, in 2020 with Golden Pal, and 2021 with Twilight Gleaming? The cupboard is bare. If a trainer is going to win the Juvenile Turf Sprint for the first time, why not a trainer who is running his first horse in a Breeders’ Cup race? England-based Michael “Mick” Appleby not only has his first Breeders’ Cup horse, a colt named Big Evs, but his very first North American starter. Riding Big Evs is the accomplished English jockey Tom Marquand, who has his first mount in North America. First is a good place to be in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. At Keeneland last year, Mischief Magic somehow found passage through 11 rivals, closing from last to win. The other four Juvenile Turf Sprints went wire to wire. Appleby thinks he has the fastest horse in the race. An Irish-bred, English colt quicker than speedy Americans? Quite possibly. “If he’s not in front, whoever is will be going too fast,” Appleby said. :: Breeders' Cup Shop: DRF Past Performances available now Big Evs is one of a dozen for the Juvenile Turf Sprint, a five-furlong mad dash that will unfold at a breakneck clip. Three pre-entered horses selected to run don’t start, throwing alternates Amidst Waves, Starlust, and Shards into the fray. Amidst Waves gives George Weaver, also seeking his first Breeders’ Cup winner, three Juvenile Sprint starters. For years, Ward had most of the fastest 2-year-old turf sprinters in North America. Weaver played that role during 2023. He has won seven juvenile turf-sprint stakes and has the three most-accomplished American runners in Amidst Waves, No Nay Mets, and Crimson Advocate. Weaver also followed Ward’s footsteps sending Crimson Advocate to Royal Ascot, where she beat 25 rivals to capture the Queen Mary Stakes, a race Ward won three times. Crimson Advocate, who was brilliant in her turf debut, the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies in May, hasn’t started since the June 21 Queen Mary, a five-furlong straight-course dash. The filly, by Nyquist, was a late foal, and following a long journey and a tough race, Crimson Advocate needed rest, Weaver said. She got several weeks of it at a farm before resuming training and has worked eight times while based at Saratoga. Soon after Crimson Advocate began breezing, Weaver decided he’d bring the filly to California fresh and pass on a prep race. She should be sitting on tilt. Winning the Queen Mary was no small feat. A nose behind Crimson Advocate came Relief Rally, who came back to beat 19 in a Newbury handicap before landing the Group 2 Lowther Stakes. Amidst Waves, who won the Bolton Landing at Saratoga before losing by a nose in the Indian Summer at Keeneland, comes from behind. No Nay Mets, though, is a pace player like Crimson Advocate. Things didn’t go his way at Ascot, where he was ninth in the Norfolk, but he came back with easy stakes wins in New Jersey and Virginia. The stablemates not only have similar running styles, they’ll be next to each other in the starting gate: Crimson Advocate drew the rail, No Nay Mets post 2. Both must break with guns blazing. “I can’t separate them at all,” Weaver said. “They’re both speed horses, and I’d like to see them bounce away from there and be forwardly placed.” Slider won the local race in the division, the Speakeasy on Oct. 7 at Santa Anita, and adds further fuel to the pace fire. He breaks from post 11 and will be asked to get position before the turn. If Amidst Waves has a chance, so must Committee of One, who beat her by a head in the Indian Summer, and Shards, part of a three-horse photo in the race. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Those seeking an alternative European can choose from several. Valiant Force won’t be far off the leaders but won’t be in front. His claim to fame is a 150-1 victory in the Norfolk. Tiger Belle is a steadily improving filly who went to France to win a Group 3 in her last start, though she’ll need something better than that. The Aidan O’Brien-trained Cherry Blossom finished fourth in the Group 1 Cheveley Park going six furlongs at Newmarket in her most recent race, showing some speed. She’ll get betting support but does not seem like the right type of horse for a five-furlong race at Santa Anita. Givemethebeatboys also cuts back from six furlongs and exits a solid fourth in the Group 1 Middle Park, another six-furlong Newmarket race. The next Jessica Harrington-trained horse that turns in a strong North American performance will be the first to do so. Among the six Europeans, only Starlust has raced around a turn. But don’t think Appleby hasn’t been practicing with Big Evs. Appleby seven times in a row has been champion trainer during England’s winter all-weather circuit, where racing is conducted on flat ovals and around bends – like in America. Chelmsford, with a one-mile track and left-handed racing, is Appleby’s home course. Big Evs worked around the turn there. “He’s a very straightforward horse. I don’t think it will be a problem,” Appleby said. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2023: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division Big Evs is an English Quarter Horse. He breaks like a bolt of lightning, hits top gear in a flash, and is a five-furlong specialist. He won the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot by three lengths, the only time he has truly gotten the fast ground he prefers. He eked out a soft course win in the Molecomb at Goodwood, ran below form facing older horses in the Group 1 Nunthorpe, then turned in a corker finishing strongly after setting a furious pace while easily landing the Group 2 Flying Childers at Doncaster. “It was an unbelievable performance over soft ground he doesn’t even like,” Appleby said. Appleby’s family comes from the same area as that of Breeders’ Cup titan Charlie Appleby. Mick Appleby said there’s no known relation between the two. “If there were, Charlie wouldn’t admit it,” he quipped. Appleby has been once before to America, a junket to Las Vegas. Friday might be his lucky day. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.