Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Drefong to gun it in repeat bid
DEL MAR, Calif. – Bob Baffert is the only trainer to have won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint back to back with the same horse, turning the trick with Midnight Lute in 2007 and 2008. On Saturday, Baffert will be favored to do it again, when he sends out Drefong in defense of his win last year in the $1.5 million Sprint.
A star-studded field of 10 was entered for the six-furlong Sprint, including the winners of seven Breeders’ Cup Challenge races – Drefong (Forego), Whitmore (Phoenix), Mind Your Biscuits (Belmont Sprint), Takaful (Vosburgh), Roy H (Santa Anita Sprint Championship), Ransom the Moon (Bing Crosby), and Imperial Hint (Smile Sprint). Calculator, American Pastime, and B Squared complete the lineup.
Takaful, who ran down the speedy El Deal to capture the Grade 1 Vosburgh, and American Pastime, second in the Gallant Bob at Parx in his most recent start, are the only 3-yearolds in the field.
Drefong withstood an early pace duel with favored Masochistic before edging away to a 1 1/4-length triumph at Santa Anita in the 2016 Sprint. Since that race, he has started but twice – and finished just once. He registered an impressive four-length victory in the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga after ducking in sharply and losing jockey Mike Smith in his 2017 debut four weeks earlier in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby at Del Mar.
Smith, who gave up his regular seat on Drefong in the 2016 Sprint to Martin Garcia to ride Masochistic, will be aboard Drefong Saturday.
Drefong has trained brilliantly in the weeks leading up to the Sprint, putting a punctuation mark on a strong series of works with an eye-catching half-mile in 46.80 seconds Oct. 23 at Santa Anita. If Baffert has any concerns about his chances of scoring another repeat in the Sprint, it’s the fact Drefong has drawn post 2 in a field loaded with speed.
“I would have been able to sleep better at night if he drew the outside,” Baffert said. “There are certain tracks where the inside is always more difficult, and Del Mar is one of them. But I’d rather have the horse than the post, and he’s fast enough to overcome it. It’s pedal to the metal in this race, anyway. I just hope he gets a clean break.”
Baffert has won the Sprint five times. In addition to the wins by Drefong and Midnight Lute, he won it in 2013 with Secret Circle and 1992 with Thirty Slews
Baffert said Drefong compares favorably with his previous Sprint winners, including Midnight Lute.
“They were all the kind of horses you could always count on when you needed a win,” Baffert said.
Drefong could face his stiffest challenge from another Santa Anita-based speedster, Roy H, whose only blemish in five starts this year was a secondplace finish behind Ransom the Moon in the Bing Crosby. Roy H had his chances compromised that day when fanned wide by the riderless Drefong entering the stretch. Otherwise, Roy H has been perfect, rebounding from his setback in the Bing Crosby to capture the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship by a length over longshot Mr. Hinx in his most recent start. He also won two allowance races at Santa Anita and the Grade 2 True North at Belmont this year.
“I wouldn’t trade places with anybody,” said trainer Peter Miller, who also will send out Calculator in the Sprint. “I didn’t know after his first two wins this year if he’d be able to continue that type of form, but following his victory in the True North, we’ve basically been working backwards from the Breeders’ Cup laying out
his schedule. There should be plenty of pace. Hopefully Roy H can sit forwardly a couple of lengths off the lead and run them down.”
Miller also said not to discount Calculator, who finished a solid second behind Great Expectations in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien at Del Mar in his last start.
“His race in the O’Brien was sneaky good, and if you’re a figures guy, on his best day his numbers certainly match up with these horses,” Miller said.
One of the biggest question marks in the Sprint is which Mind Your Biscuits shows up. Will it be the one who moved to the top of the division following impressive wins earlier this year in the Dubai Golden Shaheen and Belmont Sprint, or the one who finished sixth behind Drefong in the Forego?
Trainer Chad Summers believes it will be the former and is convinced Mind Your Biscuits has cycled back to his best form after going off his game this summer at Saratoga. Mind Your Biscuits finished a late-running third in the Sprint last year, 1 1/4 lengths behind Drefong.
“He’s not coming out of his skin, but he’s coming into the race the right way, he’s going to get the right setup, and the draw couldn’t have gone any better for us,” Summers said. “It’s certainly one of the deepest races on the card, and I think we’re a big part of it.”
Imperial Hint is undefeated and unchallenged in four starts this year, including a 4 3/4length victory in the Grade 3 Smile at Gulfstream Park that earned him a free berth into the Sprint. He has raced just once since, earning a career-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure and defeating three overmatched rivals in an overnight stakes Sept. 4 at Parx Racing. He will be facing far and away his stiffest competition yet Saturday.
“He has the speed, but he can sit off the pace if need be, so he should have an advantage breaking from the extreme outside,” trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. said. “I couldn’t be happier the way he’s been doing. Everything has fallen in place, gone just the way we’ve planned, ever since he won the Smile.”