Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: Reneesgotzip between two races

Reneesgotzip got back to work Tuesday morning after a planned freshening, breezing three furlongs in 37.20 at Betfair Hollywood Park, and all systems remain “go” for her to start in the Breeders’ Cup. But which race will Reneesgotzip start in?

It won’t be the Filly and Mare Sprint. Reneesgotzip, who won Del Mar’s Rancho Bernardo Handicap last time out in the same blowout fashion she won her first start of the year one month earlier, will face males in the Breeders’ Cup. The Lanni Family Trust-owned, Peter Miller-trained 4-year-old by City Zip will run in either the Turf Sprint, in which she finished third last year, or in the Sprint.

“I’ll sit down and discuss it with the Lanni family,” said Miller, who noted that the plan now is for Reneesgotzip to be cross-entered in both races. “We’ll get together and decide what makes the most sense. We’ll look at the fields and see how the races shape up. Obviously, we would be interested in the race we have the better chance of winning.”

Even in a muddled year for main-track sprinters, the Turf Sprint would be the easier race, which is not saying it will be an easy race. But even with the Turf Sprint promising to be the wide-open scramble it usually is, Reneesgotzip would be a prime contender. She was beaten less than two lengths in the race last year at Santa Anita, and judging from her two performances over the summer at Del Mar, she is even better this year.

“Is she improved? What makes it hard to tell is she is really, really good at Del Mar,” Miller said. “But she is bigger, stronger, and older. Her two races this year were dynamite, and I backed off her by design because she runs so well fresh.”