Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: Course condition to determine where Got Stormy runs
At the end of the 2019 season, it would have been no stretch to forecast Got Stormy as a major contender for the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland. The multiple Grade 1 winner – who set a course record in the Fourstardave Handicap against males at Saratoga –was a fine second to champion Uni in the 2019 Mile at Santa Anita.
But after a season of downs and ups and reinvention, Got Stormy now appears more likely to be one of the favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
Got Stormy went winless in her first five starts of the season, all around two turns. Looking to make the most of Got Stormy’s stretch punch and to get her back in the win column, trainer Mark Casse cut her back in distance for the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint at 6 1/2 furlongs in September. The only time she had raced at shorter than a mile was in her debut in 2017, going 7 1/2 furlongs around two turns at Gulfstream.
Got Stormy found the trip at Kentucky Downs to her liking, and drew clear to win by 3 1/4 lengths. She shortened up even more, to 5 1/2 furlongs, for a local Turf Sprint audition in the Grade 3 Franklin County Stakes last Friday at Keeneland. Sixth in deep stretch, Got Stormy was up by a nose for a dramatic win.
Both of those races came against lesser competition than she would face at the Breeders’ Cup. However, in both races she also was dealing with ground that was not optimal for her, as the course was rated soft at Kentucky Downs and good at Keeneland. Course conditions will be crucial in Casse and owner Gary Barber’s decision regarding which race to run her in the Breeders’ Cup. If the course is firm, Got Stormy could run in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. If it’s less than firm, she would go in the Turf Sprint.
“For her to get a mile, she needs it extremely, extremely hard,” Casse said. “And she hasn’t gotten that once this year. I’ve always said she’d handle soft going – it just limits how far she can run.
“She’s hard not to love. I’ve felt bad for her this year because she’s gotten some bad rap that she isn’t what she was. And it’s not true. Like when she won the Fourstardave last year the track was so hard and so fast. And she just hasn’t gotten that. That’s what she likes. The softer it is, the shorter she needs to run.”
One key question in forecasting the field for the Turf Sprint is European participation. Battaash is unbeaten this season and earned a berth to the Turf Sprint winning the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes in August. He was scratched from the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye earlier this month due to heavy going and could find ground more to his liking in Kentucky. Glass Slippers, who also holds a berth by virtue of a win in the Group 1 Flying Five, was second in the Abbaye. Neither will run on the British Champions program this Saturday, appearing to leave the door open for a trip to the Breeders’ Cup.