Pay Any Price, shut out of Breeders' Cup, embarks on Plan B

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A good case could have been made that Pay Any Price deserved a starting berth earlier this month in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. After all, he is the North American record holder going five furlongs on the turf and he had won his last four starts, all at Gulfstream Park, by margins ranging from 1 1/4 to 5 1/4 lengths.

Unfortunately, the Breeders’ Cup selection committee didn’t quite see it that way, with Pay Any Price winding up on the outside looking in as the first alternate for the Turf Sprint. So owner Richard Averill and his partners have come up with an alternate plan – a series of races that will begin next Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs and continue with three more prospective starts this winter during the Gulfstream Park Championship meeting.

On Friday, Pay Any Price showed he’s still as good as ever despite being just a month short of turning 9, zipping an easy half-mile from the gate in 46.87 at Gulfstream Park with regular rider Edgard Zayas aboard.

“Naturally we feel like he deserved a shot in the Breeders’ Cup – it was too bad he didn’t get that chance,” said Averill, who owns Pay Any Price with the Matties Racing Stable. “Even after the committee ranked the horses for the Turf Sprint when the pre-entries came out and we were listed as first alternate, we waited and waited, hoping someone might come out before entry time. I had a van lined up to take him to Kentucky after entries were drawn Monday evening before the race. Unfortunately, all 14 ahead of him entered and all 14 eventually ran. I didn’t want to ship and have him be on the also-eligible list, which would have meant breaking from the extreme outside if he did draw in, especially knowing they’d be running over the soggy turf.”

This was the second year in a row Averill and his partners were frustrated in their attempt to get Pay Any Price into the Turf Sprint. Some minor issues forced him to miss training time the previous summer, keeping him out of the 2017 renewal at Del Mar.

“The problem we face next year is that the Breeders’ Cup is at Santa Anita, which means the Turf Sprint will be run at 6 1/2 furlongs,” said Averill. “But you can see from his recent form and his work this morning that he’s probably never been better and just seems to be getting more professional as he goes along. It’s a long ways off, but let’s say we’re keeping the race next year in the back of our mind, that trying 6 1/2 is not out of the realm at this point.”

Pay Any Price shared top billing on Friday’s work tab at Gulfstream Park along with Jala Jala, who trounced the boys in the 2017 Clasico del Caribe. Jala Jala breezed three furlongs from the quarter pole in 37.40 before continuing out with nice energy around the turn, galloping out four furlongs in 50.32 before easing up five-eighths in 1:03.79.

Jala Jala, winner of her last four starts, will take on males once again in the 1 1/4-mile Confraternity Caribbean Cup, part of the undercard for the Clasico del Caribe Internacional program here on Dec. 8.

◗ Sunday will be closing day for the 2018 Gulfstream Park West meeting, which means there will be mandatory payouts in all pools including the Rainbow 6, which had a carryover of more than $91,000 entering Friday’s program. There will be a five day hiatus on the local circuit until live racing resumes with the opening of the 2018-19 Gulfstream Park Championship meet on Dec. 1.