LEXINGTON, Ky. – There will be a sister act on Saturday in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, as Sistercharlie and My Sister Nat face off in a rare, but not unprecedented, case of half-siblings meeting up.
The two mares are part of a strong hand at this Breeders’ Cup for owner Peter Brant, who came back into racing in 2017, some 20 years after disbanding a massively successful stable. His horses are trained by Chad Brown.
ELMONT, N.Y. – From 41 starts in this country, they have combined to win 27 races, 23 graded stakes, 17 Grade 1’s and bank nearly $8.5 million. They are all Breeders’ Cup winners. Two are champions.
On Saturday at the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland, the triumvirate of Sistercharlie, Uni, and Rushing Fall will each make the final start of her career, and the significance of that is not lost on their trainer, Chad Brown.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint comes on the earlier side of Saturday’s card at Keeneland.
“I’m glad it’s 12:30,” said trainer Joe Orseno, who will saddle Imprimis as one of the favorites in the race, the fifth of 12 on the card. “I don’t have to sit around all day.”
Orseno had been waiting a long time for a horse like Imprimis, sixth in last year’s Turf Sprint at 11-1, to bring him back to the Breeders’ Cup with a major chance. But Orseno, 65, is no stranger to the sport’s biggest days, despite several years out of the spotlight.
Day 2, Breeders’ Cup 2020. Waist deep in Euros. No words to waste on cute introductions. One thing: Wet weather predominated this fall in England, Ireland, and France. Racecourses turned very soft and heavy for a couple months. Keeneland will be much different. Bump the firmer-ground horses that recently struggled, knock down those that moved forward under testing conditions.
On to the races.
Turf
It is a rite of fall, like the leaves changing colors, jackets getting dusted off for use as the wind picks up and temperatures drop. This is the time of year in racing when 3-year-olds see if they can step up and beat their elders in championship races, none more significant than the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Got Stormy, Imprimis, Leinster, and Oleksandra are all graded stakes winners at Keeneland. They converge on the track for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Saturday, a race that drew the maximum field of 14, plus four also-eligibles.
Imprimis and Leinster were sixth and seventh in the 2019 Turf Sprint when the Breeders’ Cup was hosted by Santa Anita. That was Leinster’s eighth outing of the season, while this year’s renewal will be just his fourth start of the year.
It would be difficult to say that Magical, a seven-time Group 1 winner with a $5.3 million bankroll, had encountered misfortune during her racing career. But imagine what might have been if Magical had not come along while Enable roamed European racecourses. Magical’s seven second-place finishes include three, all at the highest-level, behind Enable.
From Circus Maximus on the fence to Raging Bull out in the parking lot, the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile brims with tough, hardened, fast middle-distance turf horses.
Eight American-based milers line up against six overseas invaders in a deep, deeply confounding Mile. How volatile could the Mile betting market become? Ivar, who won the Shadwell Turf Mile last month at odds of 14-1, was installed as the 4-1 favorite on the track’s morning line.
Dayatthespa had never run beyond nine furlongs when she stepped into the starting gate for the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at 1 1/4 miles. She won in gate-to-wire fashion.
Bricks and Mortar hadn’t run beyond 1 1/4 miles before he took on 11 opponents in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf at 1 1/2 miles. He beat them all to cap a perfect season that ended with Horse of the Year honors.
