Caravel hopes to be next female winner of BC Turf Sprint

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Females have won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint each of the last two years and four times in the 13-year history of the race.

Caravel's connections hope to get the opportunity to continue that trend later this year. Caravel, who won Saturday’s Grade 3 Caress Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday, will be aimed at the Turf Sprint, this year a five-furlong race at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

The path to get there could include at least one start against males perhaps as early as Aug. 22 in the Grade 1, $300,000 Highlander Stakes at Woodbine.

Elizabeth Merryman, part-owner, breeder and - up until Sunday morning - the trainer of Caravel, believes Caravel can be more than competitive against males.

“I just don’t think horses run much faster than her whatever sex they are,” Merryman said Sunday morning at Saratoga. “And then she gets the weight off.”

Older females get a three-pound weight allowance from older males in the BC Turf Sprint.

If Caravel does get to the Breeders’ Cup, it will be with Graham Motion as her trainer. This was the result of an agreement fostered by Merryman after she sold 75 percent interest in Caravel to celebrity chef Bobby Flay. Merryman will retain 25 percent interest in the filly.

“I set it up that way, it was kind of my choice,” Merryman said. “I had a lot of offers to partner-up with people and keep her with me, but this is the choice that for me right now makes the most sense.”

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Caravel, a 4-year-old daughter of Mizzen Mast, showed a strong turn of foot, running by Robin Sparkles to win the Caress by 2 1/2 lengths. It was Caravel’s seventh win from nine starts, her fifth stakes victory and her first in a graded event. She earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

Motion said Caravel will stay in Saratoga for the time being. In addition to the Highlander, Caravel will be nominated to the $120,000 Smart N Fancy, a 5 1/2-furlong race for fillies and mares run here on Aug. 21.