With five starters in this year’s Breeders’ Cup championship, Speightstown, the nation’s second leading sire, is poised to take over the top spot after the Nov. 1-2 races at Santa Anita Park.
Speightstown’s hand is particularly strong in the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) on Saturday, with a trio of starters in the 12-horse field.
Fast Bullet fared very well at the draw, getting post 8, suiting the speedy 5-year-old winner of this year’s Grade 2 True North H. perfectly. Trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, the Zayat Stables colorbearer will be ridden by Joel Rosario.
“Fast Bullet drew perfect with Private Zone and the other speed inside of us. We will let Joel play the break,” said Justin Zayat.
Sum of the Parts, who drew post 5, comes into the Sprint off a front-running victory in the Grade 3 Phoenix S. at Keeneland a month ago. The 4-year-old trained by Tom Amoss was fourth in this race last year.
Breaking from post 10 is Wine Police, a versatile horse who can come from off the pace or be on the lead. A precocious 2-year-old who placed in the Grade 1 Hopeful S., the now 5-year-old has won two of three starts this year, most recently the Remington Park Sprint Championship.
The Sprint is the 10th race on Saturday, with a post time of 7:01 pm ET.
Dance to Bristol brings a stellar 2013 record into Saturday’s $1 million Filly and Mare Sprint (G1). The 4-year-old filly is 7-2-0 in nine starts this year, with six of the wins coming in stakes. The chestnut filly is just shy of $1 million in lifetime earnings. The chestnut filly has turned out to be quite a bargain for her owner Susan Wantz, who purchased Dance to Bristol for $42,000 at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Spring 2-year-old sale.
The Filly and Mare Sprint is the 6th race on Saturday, with a post time of 4:21 pm ET.
Speightstown’s Breeders’ Cup starts on Friday with Golden Ticket in the $1 million Dirt Mile (G1), the 8th race at 6:05 pm ET. Like Dance to Bristol, Golden Ticket has in excess of $900,000 in earnings. Golden Ticket has the distinction of being undefeated at the mile distance and won the 2012 Travers (G1) in a dead heat with Alpha, who he faces again on Friday.
Golden Ticket drew post 2 in the 12-horse field, with trainer Ken McPeek giving a leg up to Joel Rosario.
