Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: Downhill turf course presents challenge

Mongolian Saturday and Lady Shipman are among the most well-traveled horses in training. Mongolian Saturday has taken his show on the road to compete overseas; Lady Shipman has won 12 of 17 starts over the last two years while competing at 10 different tracks.

They were separated by just a neck as the one-two finishers at the end of 5 1/2 furlongs in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland, and if they are to again lead the way this year, a new challenge awaits. The configuration of host track Santa Anita means the Turf Sprint is contested at 6 1/2 furlongs on the idiosyncratic downhill turf course, putting an emphasis on the home-field advantage.

In four of the previous five runnings of the event at Santa Anita, the winner had won on that course previously. Lady Shipman has never run in California; Mongolian Saturday made his lone start on the West Coast on Santa Anita’s dirt in 2014.

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Mongolian Saturday, winless since the 2015 Turf Sprint while competing in Group 1 company in Hong Kong and England, is also up against it on an accelerated schedule to make the race after a series of mishaps this year. The gelding missed a planned start in Dubai due to colic and was found to have an ulcer after his most recent start, an 11th-place finish in the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket. He only just returned to the work tab with a three-furlong move Monday at his Arlington Park base. Trainer Enebish Ganbat has said that he would like to prep Mongolian Saturday in the Grade 3 Woodford Stakes on Oct. 8 at Keeneland.

Meanwhile, Lady Shipman has won five of seven starts this year after being transferred from trainer Kathleen O’Connell to Kiaran McLaughlin. The mare won the Grade 3 Royal North Stakes in July at Woodbine before capturing her most recent start, the Turf Amazon on Sept. 5 at Parx.

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The leading California-based contender appears to be Why Two, who blossomed on the Del Mar turf this summer. The gelding posted back-to-back wins, including the Green Flash Handicap, with career-best Beyer Speed Figures. He is headed to the Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes on Sept. 30 on Santa Anita’s downhill turf, a race likely to produce several other contenders for the Turf Sprint. The other local preps, both for fillies and mares, are the Unzip Me Stakes on Oct. 1 and the Grade 3 L.A. Woman Stakes on Oct. 9.

There are only four Win and You’re In races for the Turf Sprint, all overseas: The T.J. Smith Stakes in April in Australia, which typically does not produce Breeders’ Cup starters; the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes in August in England, won for the second straight year by Mecca’s Angel; the Group 2 Flying Five in September at The Curragh, won by Ardhoomey; and the Group 1 Sprinters Stakes on Oct. 2 in Japan. The connections of Mecca’s Angel and Ardhoomey have not indicated that the Breeders’ Cup is in their plans.

The leading European-based contender for the Turf Sprint appears to be July Cup winner Limato, who was second in the Nunthorpe. Trainer Henry Candy has indicated that Limato will be pre-entered in both the Turf Sprint and the Mile.

Other upcoming preps for the Turf Sprint include the newly created Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational on Oct. 8.