Remaining preps should clear up field

The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, the new kid on the block for this year’s event, may have a mix of domestic and international talent for its inaugural running.

The Juvenile Turf Sprint’s addition to the Breeders’ Cup program was announced in February. The $1 million race, contested at about 5 1/2 furlongs, joins the lineup for a Friday card that also includes the $2 million Juvenile, $2 million Juvenile Fillies, $1 million Juvenile Turf, and $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf.

“The upgrade of the Juvenile Turf Sprint is in response to the increasing popularity of turf racing in North America and will fill a need for international turf sprint sires,” Dora Delgado, Breeders’ Cup senior vice president of racing and nominations, said at the time of the announcement. “Each year, the Juvenile Turf and the Juvenile Fillies Turf are oversubscribed at the championships.”

The picture for the inaugural Juvenile Turf Sprint figures to clear significantly following a trio of Win and You’re In races the first weekend of October, which will award the winners berths in the starting gate. The Grade 3, $150,000 Futurity Stakes at Belmont and the $100,000 Speakeasy Stakes at Santa Anita are set for Oct. 6, with the $200,000 Indian Summer Stakes at Keeneland the following day. All three races were scheduled specifically as prep races for the Breeders’ Cup.

Wesley Ward, known for his prowess with juveniles, was still sorting out which of his Breeders’ Cup prospects would contest which prep. His contingent for the Juvenile Turf Sprint is led by Shang Shang Shang, a filly who defeated males by a nose in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting in June. The filly hasn’t started since that race. She was scratched from a pair of stakes in August at Saratoga and has been working steadily at Ward’s Keeneland base.

Moonlight Romance rebounded from her own trip to Royal Ascot to win the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Turf Sprint for Ward, and will now train up to the Breeders’ Cup. The trainer’s other prospects include Chelsea Cloisters, Mae Never No, and Stillwater Cove.

The top European juveniles, such as Group 1 Prix Morny winner Pretty Pollyanna, are more likely to remain in Europe to target major fall events and aim for next spring’s classics rather than make the trip overseas for the Breeders’ Cup. However, several Europeans are considered possible for the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Signora Cabello, a multiple Group 2 winner and second in the Prix Morny, is under consideration, according to trainer John Quinn. Signora Cabello is co-owned by Phoenix Thoroughbreds, which purchased Pocket Dynamo, second by a nose to Shang Shang Shang in the Norfolk, specifically to point for the Breeders’ Cup.

Another European candidate is multiple group stakes winner Soldier’s Call, who trainer Archie Cross has said will contest “one or both” the Juvenile Turf Sprint and Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp, against older.