Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: Course experience a big edge

ARCADIA, Calif. – The $1 million Turf Sprint on Saturday may be the most wide open of any of the 13 Breeders’ Cup races this weekend at Santa Anita, with a full field of 14 flying about 6 1/2 furlongs down the hillside course.

But many handicappers feel they can quickly narrow the race down to only four contenders – the horses who already have competed over the quirky course. History will bear out that theory, with the first four renewals of the race down the hill having been won by horses based at Santa Anita with hillside experience, a streak that was snapped two years ago by Bobby’s Kitten.

The hillside four on Saturday consist of Ambitious Brew, Obviously, Holy Lute, and Undrafted, who finished third in 2014, beaten less than a length by Bobby’s Kitten, in his only try over the course.

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Those in the Turf Sprint who will be stepping onto the course for the first time are 5-1 morning-line favorite Pure Sensation; the Grade 1-placed A Lot; Om, who is stabled regularly at Santa Anita but has never run down the hillside course; Celestine, the only filly in the main body of the field; defending champ Mongolian Saturday; Grade 2 Nearctic winner Calgary Cat; and a quartet of European invaders in Karar, Home of The Brave, Suedois, and Washington DC.

Trainer Chad Brown saddles A Lot and said it’s “absolutely a disadvantage” to those horses who have never tried the course, despite his having won the race with Bobby’s Kitten.

“Horses who’ve been down the hill certainly have an edge, but the fact we’ve overcome that before gives me some confidence this horse will be able to navigate his way through that tricky trip,” Brown said.

A Lot has started just four times this season and not since finishing second behind Tourist while going a mile in the Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga on Aug. 20. He won the seven-furlong Elusive Quality at Belmont on April 30 for his lone victory this year.

“After he won that stakes opening day at Belmont, I said, ‘Let’s try to get him to the Turf Sprint, and here we are,” Brown said. “I think this [distance] is probably what he wants to do, he’s doing really well, and he gives me the feeling he’ll run his best race fresh. If he can work out a trip, he should be flying late.”

Trainer Dan Hendricks had given first preference to the Mile when pre-entering Om for the Breeders’ Cup, but in the end, he opted for the Turf Sprint. Om has run a mile on turf in his last five races, and this will be his first sprint on grass.

“It’s a disadvantage not having been down the hill, but it’s a disadvantage to 10 of the 14 horses in the race,” said Hendricks. “You just never know how they’re going to react to it, but he’s a handy little horse, and it shouldn’t be a problem for him. He’s doing great, and I just felt at this time he’d have a better chance of winning this race than the Mile with his top effort.”

Celestine won the Grade 1 Just a Game going a mile at Belmont in the spring and returned four months later to finish third at the same distance in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland. She’ll not only have to overcome her inexperience with the course but post 14 as well.

“It’s certainly a new deal for her, but who knows, maybe she’ll be good at it,” said trainer Bill Mott. “And after talking to some people who’ve ridden or trained horses to run over this course, 14 doesn’t necessarily have to be the worst post. It certainly gives her some options.”

Obviously will be competing in his fifth consecutive Breeders’ Cup, having started in the last four editions of the Mile. Although he’s made 13 starts at Santa Anita, he’s been down the hill just three times, with his only victory coming against allowance competition in 2012.

Ambitious Brew and Holy Lute are each coming off a victory in a division of the Grade 3 Eddie D down the hill here Sept. 30 and are easily the most accomplished members of the field over the course, but both will be facing the stiffest competition of their careers Saturday.

Undrafted will compete in his third straight Turf Sprint, having finished fifth at Keeneland a year ago following his third-place finish in 2014.

Pure Sensation brings a three-race winning streak into the race that includes a pair of Grade 3 victories. He will break from post 1 for the second year in a row in the Turf Sprint. He was never a serious factor after being put in tight quarters along the rail a year ago at Keeneland.