Daytona win has Eddie Haskell's connections thinking Breeders' Cup

ARCADIA, Calif. – Eddie Haskell won his first graded stakes in Saturday’s Grade 3 Daytona Stakes at five furlongs on turf at Santa Anita, leaving trainer Mark Glatt contemplating what the former claimer can achieve through the season.

Glatt mentioned the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint here in November as a long-term goal, should Eddie Haskell continue to improve.

The race is more than five months away, but the distance of the $1 million BC Turf Sprint has not been finalized. The BC Turf Sprint was originally scheduled for about 6 1/2 furlongs with a start on the hillside turf course, but the hillside course has not been used for sprints due to safety concerns since Arms Runner sustained a fatal injury when crossing from the hillside portion of the course to the main turf oval in the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes on March 31.

Since early April, all turf sprints have been run at five furlongs on the turf oval. The hillside portion of the course has been used sparingly for the start of races at 1 1/4 miles or 1 1/2 miles. The hillside course will not be used for sprints through the conclusion of the current meeting, on June 23, track officials have said.

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Steve Lym, Santa Anita’s racing secretary, said on Sunday that no decision has been made regarding use of the hillside turf course for sprints at the autumn meeting, which begins on Sept. 27 and includes the Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 1-2.

Lym said discussions have been held about altering the oval portion of the turf course to allow for races at 5 1/2 furlongs, a distance not currently used. Lym said surveyors have been consulted about developing a start position that would begin on the first turn of the main track. The runners would race for a few strides on dirt before joining the turf oval on the backstretch.

“We’re looking at five and a half to see if it can be done,” Lym said.

Breeders’ Cup president Craig Fravel said in a phone interview on Sunday that he has been in contact with Santa Anita officials about a potential distance change for the BC Turf Sprint, but that no decision has been made.

The BC Turf Sprint was first run in 2008 and has been run on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita six times at about 6 1/2 furlongs. The race has been run three times at Churchill Downs – twice at five furlongs and once at 5 1/2 furlongs, once at Del Mar at five furlongs, and once at Keeneland at 5 1/2 furlongs.

Eddie Haskell has won 8 of 19 starts and earned $453,107. Of his eight wins, seven have been at five furlongs on turf. Eddie Haskell won his debut in a maiden race at six furlongs on dirt at Los Alamitos in December 2015.

In seven races at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course, Eddie Haskell’s best result was a second to Pee Wee Reese in the Sensational Star Stakes on March 31. He was third in two other stakes on the hillside course in 2017 and in January of this year.

Trainer Mark Glatt said the distance of the BC Turf Sprint will affect how he plans the 6-year-old gelding’s campaign in the second half of the year.

“He might be a Breeders’ Cup horse going five-eighths,” Glatt said.

A more immediate goal is the $75,000 Siren Lure Stakes at five furlongs on turf on June 23. Later this summer, the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at five furlongs on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 17 is a possibility.

Eddie Haskell, who races for Jim Hailey and Philip Wood, was claimed by his current owners for $50,000 in April 2018 and has subsequently earned $304,484, winning 5 of 9 starts in that span.