Breeders' Cup Sprint: Baffert has two of nine contenders

ARCADIA, Calif. – Traditionally, the winning formula for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint has required not only a very fast horse but a lot of racing luck to successfully negotiate a short distance, six furlongs, through a large field. But that formula will change slightly this year since traffic may not be as big an issue, with only nine horses pre-entered for the Sprint on Monday.

Full fields have been the rule rather than the exception throughout the history of the Sprint. At least 13 horses went to post in 22 of the first 32 editions of the race, and in three of the past four years, the starting gate was filled to capacity with 14 starters. The last time as few as nine horses ran in the Sprint was in 2011, when Amazombie won at Churchill Downs. The smallest Sprint field assembled here in 2008, when Midnight Lute defeated seven rivals to capture the event for the second time in as many years for trainer Bob Baffert.

Baffert will be in the spotlight again Nov. 5, sending out two of the principal players in the race, Grade 1 winners Lord Nelson and Drefong. Lord Nelson won two of the six Breeders’ Cup Challenge races leading up to the Sprint, the Bing Crosby at Del Mar and the Santa Anita Sprint Championship here this month.

Drefong, among a trio of 3-year-olds pre-entered for the race, along with Mind Your Biscuits and Noholdingbackbear, is undefeated and virtually untested in four starts dating to his maiden win last November at Del Mar, his most important victory coming last out in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga on Aug. 27.

And Baffert is pleased with the way both of his horses are coming into the race.

“After the King’s Bishop, I just backed off on Drefong a little bit and freshened him up,” said Baffert. “I didn’t want to run him in the Sprint here, and I didn’t want to ship him either. He runs well fresh. I’m really happy with him. He’s going great now. And Lord Nelson is doing really well, too. Both my horses complement each other. Drefong, he’s fast, he’s speed, and Lord Nelson just sits right off them. The post position will be key. The Sprint is all about post and the break.”

Lord Nelson, who worked six furlongs in 1:11.48 here Wednesday, likely will vie for favoritism in the Sprint with Masochistic, who has cruised to wire-to-wire victories in his only two starts this season, including the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien at Del Mar on Aug. 27. Masochistic finished 14th and last in the 2015 Sprint at Keeneland.

The remaining Sprint pre-entrants include the East Coast’s top sprinter, A. P. Indian, who won the Grade 1 Forego for trainer Arnaud Delacour; fellow Breeders’ Cup Challenge race winner Delta Bluesman; the red-hot former claimer Joking; and Limousine Liberal.

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