Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: Drysdale back at BC for first time since 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Oleksandra is coming to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint off a layoff. So is her trainer.
Oleksandra, who last raced in the Grade 1 Jaipur on the June 20 Belmont Stakes undercard, is the first Breeders’ Cup starter since 2011 for Hall of Famer Neil Drysdale. The trainer still ranks in the top 20 in the history of the Breeders’ Cup in purses won, largely accomplished in the first decade of the event, as he saddled Breeders’ Cup winners Princess Rooney (1984 Distaff), Tasso (1985 Juvenile), Prized (1989 Turf), the great A.P. Indy (1992 Classic), and Hollywood Wildcat (1993 Distaff). His most recent Breeders’ Cup win came with War Chant (2000 Mile), a son of Hollywood Wildcat, in the same year he trained Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus.
Australian-bred Oleksandra, a homebred for Team Valor, emerged from her dramatic late-running Jaipur victory with a broken splint bone. Laid up through the summer, she returned to the work tab Oct. 2 at Belmont Park, and breezed six times in the ensuing month. After a series of half-mile works, she stepped up to five furlongs on Oct. 23 and six furlongs on Nov. 1 before shipping to Keeneland, where she won last year’s Grade 3 Franklin County.
“That was because of the layoff to get her fit,” Drysdale said regarding the busy work pattern. “We gave her some small, easy works and then we’ve only done two serious works.”