Ward has favorites among 19 pre-entries

The first time the Breeders’ Cup was held at Del Mar, in 2017, the Juvenile Turf Sprint was not yet a part of the program. The new kid on the block joined the program the next year. The addition has proven popular with both domestic and international horsemen and is expected to once again have a full starting gate as it leads off the juvenile-focused Breeders’ Cup Friday races at Del Mar as a Grade 2, $1 million event.

There are 19 pre-entries for the fourth-ever running of the Juvenile Turf Sprint, and 12 horses may start. Slipstream earned an automatic berth into this race with his victory in the Grade 3 Futurity at Belmont, but is cross-entered, with his first preference listed as the Juvenile Turf – a race trainer Christophe Clement indicated he strongly preferred, and a race in which Slipstream also made the main body of an overflow field.

Those currently on the outside looking in for the Juvenile Turf Sprint, in order of the preference in which they would enter the field in case of a defection, are Time to Party – who would be a major factor in the pace scenario – Kaufymaker, Makin My Move, Thunder Love, Elevado, Baby Steps, and Sumter. Baby Steps has second preference in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, for which she also is an alsoeligible. Final entries will be taken Monday.

Of the 12 horses who earned their way into the Juvenile Turf Sprint via automatic qualifiers or points, or who were selected into the field by the Breeders’ Cup, seven made their most recent starts in Europe, and five in the United States. However, there is a fair amount of crossover in those two groups. Twilight Gleaming, trained by Wesley Ward for Stonestreet, won her maiden at Belmont before spending her summer campaigning at Europe, finishing second in the Group 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot and winning the Prix de la Vallee d’Auge. The Queen Mary winner was Quick Suzy, a European-based filly owned by American-based Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which has long been targeting the Breeders’ Cup.

Twilight Gleaming is second on David Aragona’s early line for Daily Racing Form to another Wardtrained filly, Averly Jane. Averly Jane, a stakes winner on dirt, is coming off a course record-setting performance in the Indian Summer at Keeneland in her turf debut. The fillies give Ward, who has won the past two editions of this race with Four Wheel Drive and Golden Pal, a strong hand for a three-peat. Ward also trains Kaufymaker, who will look to draw into this field after finishing second to her stablemate in the Indian Summer.