Totally Boss wins way into Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

Totally Boss punched his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint by winning the Grade 3 Runhappy Turf Sprint on Sept. 7 at Kentucky Downs, a Win and You’re In event.

The gelding had previously won the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint Stakes on Aug. 4 at Ellis Park, putting himself in line for a $1 million bonus if he could add wins in the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes on Oct. 4 at Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.

But trainer Rusty Arnold and owners Jim and Susan Hill have resisted the temptation to go for that payday, seeking to get Totally Boss to the Breeders’ Cup in the sharpest form possible by training him up to the race.

“It’s tempting, but we don’t want to jam too much into this horse,” Arnold said.

That doesn’t mean Arnold won’t have Turf Sprint hopefuls out in force at Keeneland in the coming weeks. He is likely to be represented in the Woodford by Leinster, who earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 108 winning the Grade 3 Troy Stakes at Saratoga before finishing third in the Runhappy Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs. Stablemate Morticia also is nominated to the Woodford as well as to the Grade 3 Franklin County Stakes on Oct. 11, a race she won in 2017 before finishing third in last year. Morticia, who is coming off a win in the Grade 3 Ladies Sprint on Sept. 7 at Kentucky Downs, is approaching millionaire status, with career earnings at $989,669.

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“I’d like to go to the Breeders’ Cup with her if she wins,” Arnold said. “The [Turf Sprint] this year is five furlongs, and I have to consider it. If it was still 6 1/2 down the hill, I wouldn’t.”

Meanwhile, Totally Boss is continuing to thrive splitting his time between Arnold’s racetrack shed row and the Hills’ Margaux Farm in Midway, Ky. The gelding has won 4 of 5 outings this year, with the only loss by a nose to multiple graded stakes winner Om in a salty Churchill Downs allowance. Totally Boss finished ahead of notable names Angaston, Undrafted, Smart Remark, and Will Call. Totally Boss bounced out of that race to notch his first two stakes wins.

Arnold said that nose loss showed him Totally Boss belonged with the best of the division.

“We thought at that point he was a good horse,” Arnold said. “He just turned into a good horse. He’s been unfortunate not to win them all this year, actually. Mr. Hill takes him back to his farm after every race, freshens him up, and keeps him two or three weeks, and then he sends him back to me and it works. They say he loves it there. They turn him out, and he’s a happy horse.”