Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint: Strike Silver finds his niche

Trainers work throughout the summer and fall to find the proper niche for their 2-year-olds. Is an individual suited for sprints or routes – on turf, dirt, or either? The addition of the Juvenile Turf Sprint to the Breeders’ Cup program has provided another outlet to strategize and to maximize a horse’s opportunity.

That’s exactly what happened with Strike Silver, who made his turf debut in the Indian Summer Stakes last Sunday at Keeneland, one of three races over the weekend offering automatic berths into the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Last of 12 at the midway point of the race after being bumped hard at the start, Strike Silver unleashed a furious rally to get up by a neck over the well-traveled Chelsea Cloisters.

“We thought our best opportunity of getting to the Breeders’ Cup would be running shorter, at least at this time of the year,” said David Carroll, assistant to trainer Mark Casse. “Dirt was out, so we tried the turf, and it worked out beautifully.”

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Strike Silver, from the second crop of Violence, was a $275,000 purchase by John Oxley out of last year’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s fall yearling sale. The colt made his first two starts on dirt, winning his debut in June at Churchill Downs and finishing second by a neck to Sombeyay in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes on opening weekend at Saratoga.

Violence, like his versatile sire Medaglia d’Oro, has already sired stakes winners on both dirt and turf, while Strike Silver’s dam, Frank’s Hope, scored her only victory on a synthetic track. Strike Silver’s way of moving had Casse believing he would transfer his form to turf.

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“The way he moves, he moves very close to the ground, like a daisy-cutter,” Carroll said. “Mark felt he would handle the turf no problem, and he did. At the end of the day, he’s a very talented colt.”

The weekend’s other two Win and You’re In events for the Juvenile Turf Sprint also were won by colts trying turf for the first time.

Off a debut victory on Monmouth’s main track, Uncle Benny won the Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park, moved from dirt to turf this year. Uncle Benny is by Declaration of War, a multiple Group 1 winner in Europe who finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

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“He’s a big, good-looking horse,” trainer Jason Servis said of Uncle Benny. “He’s massive. He’s got Storm Cat on the dam’s side, and his stallion won a couple of Grade 1’s in Europe on the grass, so I wasn’t worried about the turf.”

While Uncle Benny has earned an automatic berth in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, Servis would like to stretch him out for the Juvenile Turf instead. However, with that race likely to overfill, his strategizing may be limited.

“I don’t know if he’ll get in the long one, but I think he’ll run further,” Servis said. “I don’t know if he’ll get up five-eighths, but I know he’ll get a mile. He’ll go in one of those races.”

Its Gonna Hurt, another son of Violence, stepped from maiden-claiming company on the dirt to winning the Speakeasy Stakes on turf at Santa Anita, punching his team’s ticket to the Breeders’ Cup.

“The VIP treatment includes all entry fees paid, hotel room, tickets to the Breeders’ Cup, and executive car service,” trainer Brian Koriner said. “How can you turn it down?”