Breeders' Cup Sprint: Built aims to give Catalano another upset winner

Built has registered more triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure races this year, five, than any other horse pointing to the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He has captured 3 of 5 starts and never been off the board at six furlongs and won his only previous start over the main track at Keeneland.

But despite those rather impressive credentials, Built, like the majority of the others expected to contest the Sprint, finds himself taking a back seat in the lead-up to the race behind the freakishly fast 3-year-old Englishman and Japanese invader T O Elvis.

All of which matters very little to trainer Wayne Catalano, who is perfectly content in knowing Built is coming up to the Sprint in good order. Catalano also knows you don’t need any real pre-race hype to win this race, having sent out the 11-1 Aloha West to upset the Sprint in dramatic fashion five years ago at Del Mar.

Built’s career has continued on an upward spiral since Catalano put him on a steady diet of one-turn races, beginning with a victory going six furlongs in his 3-year-old finale last December at Fair Grounds. Built has gotten even better this season, having won 4 of 7 starts highlighted by his 2 1/2-length victory over another Sprint candidate, Hymn, in the Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt going six furlongs this summer at Saratoga for which he earned a career-best 105 Beyer Figure.

“Once we realized we didn’t have a Derby horse last spring we gave him time off, decided to shorten him up, and he immediately began running like he’s running now,” said Catalano, a four-time Breeders’ Cup winner. “So we just kept him there. Getting him to the Breeders’ Cup [Sprint] in top form has been the goal right along, and we plotted his races accordingly. My main concern was to keep him sound and have him fresh coming into this race, and he’s responded beautifully.”

Built gave Catalano further evidence of that fact after breezing a bullet four furlongs in 46.80 seconds early Tuesday at Churchill Downs.

Catalano said it’s hard to compare Built and Aloha West, who rallied from last to get his nose in front in the final jump of the 2021 Sprint, for several reasons.

“Aloha West wasn’t putting up triple-digit Beyers on a regular basis like this guy has. I think he had just two coming into the Sprint that year,” Catalano said. “He was a little more of a surprise, especially with his running style. Built is a little more tactical, runs close up, and isn’t going to give you the same heart-stopping kind of finish as he did that day.”

As for the imposing competition he’ll face this year, Catalano voiced little concern.

“The favorite is a 3-year-old who hasn’t run against the big boys yet,” Catalano reasoned. “You never know what might happen between now and the race, or what might happen if he gets a little pressure on him during the race. For me, all I’m thinking about at the moment is to just get [Built] into the starting gate. The rest will take care of itself.”

With pre-entries set to close Monday, a full field of 14 starters appears likely to contest the Sprint for a second year in a row, even with the announcement by trainer Phil D’Amato this past weekend that the Grade 1-placed Maximum Bourbon would bypass the race. Breeders’ Cup officials currently are listing 20 horses as potential pre-entrants for the event, including a large Japanese contingent topped by T O Elvis and which also includes American Stage, who finished fourth in last year’s renewal, Korea Sprint winner Dragon Welds, Ecoro Azel, and From Dusk.

Filly and Mare Sprint

There was little change this past week in the prospective lineup for the Filly and Mare Sprint, which will be led by Ways and Means and also includes R Disaster and Kerry’s Kiss, a pair of speedsters from trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., and Explora and potentially Nooni for trainer Bob Baffert.

Favored Ways and Means has been idle since her explosive 5 1/2-length victory over Kilwin in the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 29. She continues to train up to the Breeders’ Cup over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga, a plan trainer Chad Brown mapped out for Ways and Means immediately after her victory in the Ballerina. Brown has won the Filly and Mare Sprint three times, including twice at Keeneland.