Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: Lady Aurelia, Marsha to settle score

DEL MAR, Calif. – The much-anticipated rubber match between archrivals Lady Aurelia and Marsha will take place Saturday, not down the straights of York or Ascot but around the tight turns of the Del Mar turf course in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

Lady Aurelia and Marsha are the only females among the dozen horses entered for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, which will be decided at five furlongs after being run at 6 1/2 over the unique downhill course at Santa Anita in 2016.

Lady Aurelia and Marsha split their first two meetings. Lady Aurelia drew first blood with an easy three-length decision in the Grade 1 King’s Stand Stakes at Ascot. Marsha, who finished a troubled third in the King’s Strand, avenged that setback two months later at York, running down Lady Aurelia for a hard-fought nose decision in the Nunthorpe Stakes.

If Lady Aurelia has an edge over Marsha on Saturday, it’s that she’s already won twice around a turn. Lady Aurelia launched her career with a 7 1/2-length win over Keeneland’s main track and kicked off her current campaign in April with a 2 1/2-length victory in the Giant’s Causeway Stakes going 5 1/2 furlongs on the Keeneland turf.

Lady Aurelia has had five works, all on turf, since returning to the U.S. following her setback at York, including a half-mile move over the local course Monday. She’ll break from post 3 with John Velazquez aboard.

“She’s doing great,” said Wesley Ward, who trains Lady Aurelia for Stonestreet Stables and Peter Leidel. “She’s really enjoying it here and even worked right down to the number we asked her to work and did it with her ears pricked. Although in a race like this, so much depends on the break, and then you still have to get really lucky even if you do break well.”

Ward said that even though Lady Aurelia has been successful racing around a turn, he is a bit concerned about the tight bend of the Del Mar course.

“She tends to struggle a little around the turn,” said Ward. “She’s so quick, she kind of scrambles a little on the turn, then is straight as a string down the stretch. That’s why I love her post. Certainly, somebody will be outside of her to help get her around there, and then hopefully Johnny will be able to ease her out and get a clean run.”

Unlike Lady Aurelia, Marsha has had a start since her triumph in the Nunthorpe, finishing a distant second behind Battaash as the tepid favorite in defense of her title in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp on Oct. 1.

Trained by Mark Prescott for the Elite Racing Club, Marsha will break from post 6 while racing on Lasix for the first time in her 18-race career.

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Trainer Christophe Clement will counter with the formidable pair of Disco Partner and Pure Sensation, who will break from posts 1 and 12, respectively. Both are homebreds for Patricia Generazio.

Disco Partner has won four of his five starts this year, with his lone setback coming over yielding turf in the one-mile Fourstardave Handicap this summer at Saratoga. Earlier this season, Disco Partner set a world record for six furlongs on turf in winning Belmont Park’s Grade 3 Jaipur in 1:05.67.

“To be honest, I probably would prefer if the post positions for these two were reversed,” said Clement. “Disco Partner is a small, compact ball of energy who tries very, very hard every time. I have not run him at five-eighths because we don’t have those races in New York, so the question is whether he has enough speed to compete at that distance. We’ll find out.”

Pure Sensation finished third, beaten a length by Obviously, in the 2016 Turf Sprint. Clement described him as a horse with “pure, natural speed.”

“The question mark with him has always been his feet,” said Clement. “That’s why I haven’t run him in two months. But I’m delighted with the way both my horses are coming into the race. Now it’s up to them and the racing gods.”

Holding Gold finished sixth following a slow start behind Purse Sensation and Mongolian Saturday in the Turf Monster at Parx in his last start. Trained by Mark Casse, Holding Gold has held his own with some of the leading turf sprinters this season. He finished third, beaten a length by Disco Partner, in the Jaipur and defeated Green Mask to upset the Grade 2 Shakertown this spring at Keeneland.

Mongolian Saturday upset the 2015 Turf Sprint going five furlongs at Keeneland, but is winless in seven starts this year.

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