Breeders’ Cup Sprint: Roll On Big Joe coming in under the radar
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Roll On Big Joe is approaching a start in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Oct. 31 at Keeneland with minimal attention.
“I like it,” trainer Bob Hess Jr. said on Friday.
With runners such as Englishman, winner of the Grade 1 Woody Stephens Stakes at Saratoga in August, and the Japanese shipper T O Elvis dominating the list of candidates, Roll On Big Joe has been largely overlooked – and with good reason.
Roll On Big Joe has not raced since he finished second in the Grade 3 Aristides Stakes at Churchill Downs in May. A start in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar in July was considered before Hess pivoted to a fall campaign.
On Friday at Santa Anita, Roll On Big Joe worked six furlongs in 1:13, his last major exercise before he is scheduled to be flown to Kentucky on Tuesday. Roll On Big Joe will have one more workout at Keeneland before the BC Sprint, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 23. Julien Leparoux, who rides Roll On Big Joe, will be aboard for the workout, Hess said.
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A five-time stakes winner, Roll On Big Joe will be a longshot in the BC Sprint. Hess envisions the 6-year-old gelding racing from a stalking position.
“He’s like a little Ferrari,” Hess said. “He can sit in a pocket and when the hole opens, he goes.”
Hess acknowledges that Englishman and T O Elvis will be tough to beat if they run to expectations. T O Elvis won his lone start in the United States in the Churchill Downs Stakes on the Kentucky Derby program.
A top three finish for Roll On Big Joe is not out of the question, Hess said.
“I think the Japanese horse and Englishman are freaks,” he said. “I think the rest are right there.”
Roll On Big Joe, who has won 10 of 25 starts and earned $981,475, races for the partnership of Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners, White Fence LLC, and Richard Hale Jr.
There were several other notable workouts for California-based Breeders’ Cup runners on Thursday and Friday at Santa Anita.
On Thursday, the 2-year-old filly Domain Expansion worked a half-mile in 48 seconds, her first workout since a 14-1 win in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Oct. 3. She is bound for the BC Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 30.
Vanta, the leading 2-year-old filly on turf in California, worked a half-mile in 47.80 on Thursday for the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf on Oct. 30.
Full Serrano worked six furlongs in 1:11.20 for the BC Dirt Mile on Oct. 31, a race he won at Del Mar in 2024.
On Friday, Super Corredora, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2025, worked five furlongs in 59.80 for the BC Distaff on Oct. 31. She won the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes on Sept. 27 at Santa Anita.
Sweet Azteca, the leading female sprinter on dirt in California, worked five furlongs in 59.60 on Friday for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint on Oct. 31.
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