Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: Mongolian Saturday regains prominent position

Mongolian Saturday, a smallish but scrappy gelding, is nippy in the shed row and has to hit the track first rather than deigning to walk in line in the post parade.

But when his feet touched the turf course last Saturday at Keeneland, he was all business.

“He was very calm,” trainer Enebish Ganbat said. “He was never calm like today. I was surprised – [I thought], ‘Maybe he’s wrong.’ ”

As it turned out, things were very right. Mongolian Saturday posted a professional score in the Grade 3 Woodford Stakes – and suddenly, a muddled Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint division finds itself with a defending winner on the upswing.

The Woodford was the first win since last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint for Mongolian Saturday, who came away empty-handed in four Group 1 events after logging thousands of frequent-flier miles.

He finished a creditable fifth in the Hong Kong Sprint in December but was forced to skip the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai due to shipping sickness. He was rerouted back to Hong Kong, finishing ninth in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize. He then spent the summer in England, finishing ninth in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot and 11th in the July Cup at Newmarket, emerging from the latter with an ulcer problem.

“The horse is now doing good,” Ganbat said. “We treated and scoped him in Lexington here.”

More travel is in the near future for Mongolian Saturday, who returned to the track without incident the morning after his Woodford win. He vanned from Keeneland to the nearby Hagyard Equine Medical Institute on Tuesday for a thorough post-race exam and was then to return to his Arlington Park base. He will fly to Santa Anita around next Thursday for his final Breeders’ Cup preparations.

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By his side will be Ganbat, who has enjoyed traveling the world with his stable star.

“Because of this nice horse, I was traveling like a rich tourist,” Ganbat said with a laugh. “I have had more fun this year. I want to do it again.”

Also traveling to California will be owner Ganbaatar Dagvadorj of Mongolia – who, along with Ganbat, became a sensation at the Breeders’ Cup when he wore his native Mongolian attire to the races and enthusiastically posed for photos with fans. Dagvadorj was on a business trip last week and did not attend the Woodford.

“He was in the countryside, where there’s no Internet, nothing,” Ganbat said. “When he comes back to the city, he will watch the race.”

◗ In other divisional preps last Saturday, Pure Sensation edged Power Alert by a head to win the Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational. It was the third consecutive stakes win for Pure Sensation, who established a course record in the Grade 3 Jaipur Stakes in June, then captured the Grade 3 Parx Dash.

◗ Don’t count out Lady Shipman. The East Coast-based filly, an early favorite for the Turf Sprint until finishing sixth in the Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes on Sept. 30 at Santa Anita, stayed in California and will make her next start on Nov. 5, Breeders’ Cup Saturday. The question is – what race?

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said this week that Lady Shipman will be pre-entered in the BC Turf Sprint but could run in the Grade 3 Sen. Ken Maddy Stakes for fillies and mares on the BC undercard. Both races are 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill course.

“She does really well with fillies only,” McLaughlin said. “Her last four defeats have been colts.”

Since finishing second in the BC Turf Sprint last fall at Keeneland, Lady Shipman has won five consecutive stakes vs. fillies but finished off the board in both races against colts and geldings. Lady Shipman has won 13 races and $896,387 from 20 starts.

– additional reporting by Brad Free