Got Stormy tunes up for BC Mile in deep edition of Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint
FRANKLIN, Ky. – Got Stormy already has stamped her Breeders’ Cup ticket. Now the connections of her rivals Saturday at Kentucky Downs are looking to join her on a free trip out west.
An automatic spot in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar will be on the line when an exceptionally deep field of turf sprinters lines up Saturday in the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint. The six-furlong race offers a purse of $1 million, although the Florida-bred Imprimis will be competing for considerably less because he is ineligible for $450,000 in Kentucky-bred bonuses.
Got Stormy, owned by Spenthrift Farm and My Racehorse Stable, is using this race as a sharpener for the Nov. 6 BC Mile, for which the 6-year-old mare earned an expenses-paid berth by outrunning the boys in the one-mile Fourstardave over the Saratoga turf four weeks ago for trainer Mark Casse. A good second behind Uni in the 2019 BC Mile, Got Stormy ran fifth in the 2020 BC Turf Sprint after easily winning the Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint as one of her preps.
“There wasn’t really a perfect spot to use as a prep for the Mile this year,” said Casse, “but obviously we need to get a race in her beforehand and I like the timing of this spot. She’s shown her fondness for Kentucky Downs, which is important.”
Got Stormy, an earner of nearly $2.4 million, will have Tyler Gaffalione up when she breaks from post 9 in a field limited to 12 starters. Johnny Unleashed is the lone also-eligible from 13 entries.
If Got Stormy prevails, the Win and You’re In award is not duplicated and therefore goes unused, as per BC rules. Her main opposition includes such seasoned turf-sprint specialists as Imprimis, Fast Boat, and the uncoupled Bill Mott duo of Casa Creed and Chewing Gum.
“This a very competitive race,” said Joe Orseno, trainer of Imprimis. “Casa Creed is legitimate, and Got Stormy is Got Stormy. Everybody has been running about the same [speed figures], and if our horse steps up and runs the way I expect him to run, then we’ll be right there. I’m expecting a big effort.”
Imprimis, a 7-year-old gelding, won this race last year when ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., who will be back aboard Saturday when they break from post 12. Imprimis went on to finish 13th in the BC Sprint at Keeneland after experiencing massive traffic trouble, so Orseno obviously is hoping for a different outcome this time around.
Imprimis earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure when he was beaten a nose in the Shakertown at Keeneland in April, emerging with a broken bone in his nose after smashing into the starting gate prior to the break. Given time to heal, the gelding then went unraced for four months until returning with a fourth-place finish behind Fast Boat last month in the Troy at Saratoga.
“I backed up on him a little before the Troy, maybe a little bit too much, although he does run well fresh,” said Orseno. “I hate using the term ‘needed a race,’ but he did come up a little short on me in the Troy. He made a big sweeping move, but if he’d been a little tighter, he probably could’ve sustained that run. I wasn’t disappointed, actually, because he was putting in his run for me. It wasn’t his fault.”
Fast Boat, trained by Joe Sharp, also has posted a pair of 104 Beyers, including in a scorching triumph in the Aug. 6 Troy. The 4-year-old gelding will break from post 2 and will be ridden by Joel Rosario, who surely will be the leading rider at this six-day meet after 10 winning races on opening weekend.
Fast Boat “just keeps getting better and better,” said Sharp, who is in contention for leading trainer.
Casa Creed (post 7, Junior Alvarado) and Chewing Gum (post 10, no rider) were the one-two finishers in the Grade 1 Jaipur on the June 5 Belmont Stakes undercard. Both are late-running types who stand to benefit from a fast pace, one likely to be set by Bombard (post 3, Flavien Prat), a speedy California shipper.
Fringe players include Diamond Oops (post 1, Florent Geroux), an earner of more than $1.17 million, all for Patrick Biancone; Born Great (post 5, Adam Beschizza), who went 2 for 2 here last September for Brendan Walsh; and Stubbins (post 11, Luis Saez), winner of the 2019 Woodford over the Keeneland turf for Doug O’Neill.
This is the 23rd running of the Turf Sprint, which has been won through the years by such fan favorites as Morluc (2000), Good Lord (2012), and Hogy (2017). It leads off the final pick four of the day and directly precedes the $1 million Calumet Turf Cup as the eighth of 11 races (post, 4:09 p.m. Central).