Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint: Ward sends trio vs. Europeans

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If you create it, they will come.

That seems to be the theme for the inaugural running of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, which will have a capacity starting gate of 12, plus the maximum four also-eligibles listed on the program, with entrants drawn from both sides of the Atlantic. The Juvenile Turf Sprint brings the number of Breeders’ Cup races to 14, and is the first Breeders’ Cup race on Friday at Churchill Downs. All five of the Breeders’ Cup races on the card are for juveniles.

Wesley Ward will saddle three horses – all fillies – in the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint.

“It’s a fantastic race,” Ward said. “At this time of year, for the most part, I’m kind of looking to give them a break because there’s really nothing for a 2-year-old turf sprinter. [This race] has opened up a lot of opportunities, not only for me, but for the Europeans. It should be a really good, exciting race.”

Ward’s fillies have all raced in both the United States and Europe. The group would have been led by Shang Shang Shang, who is unbeaten in two starts, including a victory over males in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting on June 21 in England. However, the filly, who has not raced since that trip, was scratched on Friday morning owing to the soft turf after rain in the Louisville area on Wednesday and Thursday. Her withdrawal allowed Big Drink of Water, the first of the four also-eligibles, into the field.

Ward’s three remaining starters in the Juvenile Turf Sprint – Chelsea Cloisters, Stillwater Cove, and Moonlight Romance – also all made the trip to Royal Ascot in June. Chelsea Cloisters ran 11th in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes there and then finished second in the Group 3 Prix du Bois at Deauville in France. Stillwater Cove finished 13th in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Ascot, and Moonlight Romance was 13th in the Windsor Castle Stakes there.

After returning to the United States, Stillwater Cove and Chelsea Cloisters ran one-two in the Bolton Landing Stakes at Saratoga, going the same 5 1/2-furlong distance of the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Stillwater Cove went on to the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine. She led in the stretch of the one-mile race before fading late to fifth and should be more suited by Friday’s shorter distance.

Chelsea Cloisters, meanwhile, came back in the 5 1/2-furlong Indian Summer Stakes on the turf at Keeneland and was nailed in the shadow of the wire by Strike Silver.

Moonlight Romance returned from England to win the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Turf Sprint with authority on Sept. 8.

Strike Silver is the 4-1 morning-line favorite for the Juvenile Turf Sprint off a second on dirt in the Grade 3 Sanford at Saratoga in July and her late-running win in the Indian Summer on Oct. 7. Trained by Mark Casse, Strike Silver landed the inside post for the Juvenile Turf Sprint and might need some racing luck to get a clear run.

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The final U.S.-based horse in the main field is Bulletin, who won the Hollywood Beach Stakes on Sept. 29 at Gulfstream in his only start, earning a field-high Beyer Speed Figure of 86.

A strong European-based contingent is led by Soldier’s Call, the 9-2 second choice on the morning line, who finished an admirable third against older foes in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye on Oct. 7 at Longchamp in France, beaten less than a neck by Mabs Cross and Gold Vibe.

“He’s come out of that race very well,” trainer Archie Watson told the British press. “It was a brilliant performance to come so close to winning a Group 1 as a 2-year-old against older opposition.”

Soldier’s Call won the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot in June and won two stakes in September over horses he faces Friday. Soldier’s Call won the Group 3 Prix d’Arenberg in France over Queen of Bermuda and the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes in England over Well Done Fox.

Sergei Prokofiev, one of two runners for Aidan O’Brien, comes off a last-to-first victory in the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket. Well Done Fox was second, beaten 1 1/4 lengths.

Sergei Prokofiev had lost three straight races, all at six furlongs, before his win in the five-furlong Cornwallis. O’Brien thinks the shorter distance is key for Sergei Prokofiev.

“He was always so quick at home,” O’Brien said. “The first time we stepped him up to six furlongs, he lost that bit of brilliance. It’s amazing the difference a furlong makes. Obviously, he is really a five-furlong horse.”

The Europeans have experience on turf rated less than firm, which could prove a factor Friday. Queen of Bermuda won the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes on heavy going at Ayr, and most recently finished second in the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte on soft going. Sergei Prokofiev scored the first win of his career on going rated soft in Ireland.