Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: Leinster's light schedule has him fresh
Leinster made his eighth start of 2019 in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita and finished seventh. The 5-year-old’s objective for 2020 has been a return to that race, this renewal hosted at Keeneland, where he is based with trainer Rusty Arnold. And 2020 has been a year like no other.
With the coronavirus pandemic disrupting racing schedules nationwide – including canceling the Keeneland spring meet and postponing the following meet at Churchill Downs – Leinster found himself in a holding pattern while training in Florida earlier this year, with the start of his campaign delayed. But the unplanned shifts in the schedule may be a blessing in disguise for Leinster. He will come to the Breeders’ Cup, his fourth run of the year, as a relatively fresh horse, and is likely to be among the favorites off consecutive graded stakes wins on his home course.
“He had run a lot last year,” Arnold said. “This pandemic is a horrible thing, but maybe helps him. He was probably over-raced a little bit last year. At the end of the year, I think that the last two weren’t as good. He’s a fresh horse now.”
Leinster finished second to Extravagant Kid in an allowance race in May at Churchill Downs in his first start of this season and first since the 2019 Breeders’ Cup. He then returned to Keeneland to edge stablemate Totally Boss – who is done for the year with a physical issue – in the Grade 2 Shakertown at the track’s July meeting, running 5 1/2 furlongs in a course-record 1:00.86. Arnold then planned to run Leinster at the Kentucky Downs meeting in September – but again, fate intervened to keep the horse’s schedule lighter.
“We had a little setback – he had a foot problem,” Arnold said. “We actually were going to run him at Kentucky Downs. We didn’t get to run. Maybe it’s a blessing because he stayed right here on his home track.”
Last Saturday, Leinster held off Extravagant Kid for a half-length victory in the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes, the final local prep for the Turf Sprint. He has now won 3 of 4 career starts on the Keeneland turf, with his only local loss coming when he was second by three-quarters of a length in the 2019 Woodford.
Leinster leads the home team for the Turf Sprint, with the picture regarding international shippers likely to solidify in the coming weeks. Major European candidates such as Battaash and Glass Slippers, both of whom earned automatic berths into the Breeders’ Cup with Group 1 wins earlier this year, will either run on the British Champions card on Oct. 17 at Ascot, or will make plans to ship to the Breeders’ Cup. Pandemic-imposed travel regulations will likely factor into their planning.
Back stateside, the field also will come into better focus in the coming week. Multiple Grade 1 winner Got Stormy, who got back in the win column cutting back in distance at Kentucky Downs, will get a final Turf Sprint audition over the Keeneland course in the Grade 3 Franklin County Stakes on Friday. Meanwhile, the connections of Wet Your Whistle, winner of the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational last Sunday, will have to choose whether to pay a hefty supplemental fee to move on to the Breeders’ Cup.