Breeders' Cup Sprint: 2012 champ Trinniberg among five returnees
If the field for the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Sprint has a familiar look, it should. Five of the 12 likely starters for the race return from last year’s Sprint, including the winner, Trinniberg, and runner-up The Lumber Guy. Sum of the Parts, Justin Phillip, and Fast Bullet, who finished 4-5-6 in the 2012 Sprint, will also be back for another try at the $2 million purse and perhaps a chance at divisional honors.
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But despite the presence of five of the first six finishers from last year, favoritism in the Sprint will likely fall on a couple of new faces, the red hot pair of Points Offthebench and Private Zone, both of whom earned automatic berths into the race by virtue of their respective victories earlier this month in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship and Belmont’s Vosburgh. Bahamian Squall, winner of the Smile Sprint Handicap at Calder, and Sum of the Parts, winner of the Phoenix at Keeneland, captured the other two Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifiers for the Sprint.
A total of 15 horses were pre-entered for the Sprint but two of those, Reneesgotzip and Capo Bastone, gave first preference to the Turf Sprint while Laugh Track has first preference in the Dirt Mile. On Tuesday, trainer Todd Pletcher said it was unlikely Capo Bastone would run in the Sprint.
The remainder of the Sprint lineup consists of Gentlemen’s Bet, Majestic Stride, Secret Circle, and Win Police.
Points Offthebench has won four races in a row and six of his last seven starts. His two most recent victories have come against Grade 1 company, Del Mar’s Bing Crosby and the Santa Anita Sprint Championship in which he outlasted Goldencents by a half-length while earning a career-best 110 Beyer Speed Figure. Points Offthebench, a 4-year-old son of Benchmark, has won 3 of 4 starts at Santa Anita although despite his imposing resume he has never been favored in any of his eight previous outings.
Trinniberg was overlooked at odds of better than 13-1 when upsetting the Sprint a year ago, a victory that propelled him to Eclipse Award honors. And he’s likely to go off an even higher price this year, having gone winless in four subsequent tries since the 2012 Breeders’ Cup while coming off a seventh-place finish, 22 lengths behind Points Offthebench, in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship. He will also have a new rider, Rajiv Maragh, for the Sprint.
“His last race was the worst he’s ever run and you can come up with a million excuses, but I don’t think he liked being rushed and the track was a little deep for him that day,” said trainer Bisnath Parboo. “It doesn’t matter to us if the people overlook him again because we know he’s trained lights out since that race and we’re confident he’s going to run his best race in the Sprint, just like last year.”