Foreign participation looks light for Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

Unlike the other Breeders’ Cup races contested on turf, Europeans have made little noise in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, with every edition of the race since it was added to the program in 2008 captured by a U.S.-based runner. That may continue to be the case this year, as the top runners from various international jurisdictions aren’t likely to make the trip to California.

Battaash was considered the leading sprinter in Europe over the summer following the retirement of Royal Ascot hero Blue Point, and his connections were strongly considering a trip to the Breeders’ Cup following his victory in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes in August, an automatic qualifier for the Turf Sprint. However, Battaash finished a surprising 14th of 16 in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye on soft ground last Sunday and will now undergo a complete veterinary workup before any plans are made.

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“Honestly and personally, and it’s only opinions like everything at this stage, but I don’t think it was just the ground,” Angus Gold, racing manager for owner Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum, told the European press. “You could make a case it was, but [jockey Jim Crowley] said he knew after a furlong he was in trouble. We’ll check him out, 100 percent, and give him a break like we have done the last couple of years and see if there was anything ailing him.

“It’s hard to go to the Breeders’ Cup on the back of a run like that. You want to be going there in full form, not when you’ve been tailed off. I imagine we’ll crack on next year with the usual route.”

The Prix de l’Abbaye was a Win and You’re In event, but trainer Kevin Ryan indicated that victorious Glass Slippers is likely done for the season. Runner-up So Perfect and a pair of also-rans, Fairyland (10th) and Soldier’s Call (15th), seem the most likely to carry the European standard in the Turf Sprint. So Perfect has knocked heads with top-quality competition all season for trainer Aidan O’Brien, finishing third behind Battaash and Soldier’s Call in the Nunthorpe, second to stablemate Fairyland in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes in Ireland, and then second at Longchamp. Trainer Archie Watson, meanwhile, has been eager to return to the United States with Soldier’s Call, who was sixth as the favorite in last year’s inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Fairyland – who, like stablemate So Perfect, holds an entry for the Group 1 British Champions Sprint Stakes on Oct. 19 – earned a berth in the Turf Sprint by virtue of her victory in the Flying Five. Should she use it, she would be the only one of the four qualifiers in European races to head to the Turf Sprint, with Blue Point (Diamond Jubilee), Battaash, and Glass Slippers passing. Tower of London earned a berth by winning the Group 1 Sprinters Stakes in Japan, but both he and fellow Japanese Group 1 winner Mr Melody are unlikely to make the trip.