Who will excel at 5 furlongs in Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint?

Rather than using the downhill turf course, the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 4 will start on the main turf course and run only five furlongs. The shorter distance on a standard course configuration benefits a few horses in the race who hinted at stamina concerns.

Which Turf Sprint entries are helped most by the five-furlong distance? Here are two horses in particular who will enjoy the how the race is set up.

Live In The Dream

Live In The Dream came from Europe to first run in the 5 1/2-furlong, Grade 2 Woodford Stakes at Keeneland earlier this month. But he found the distance too far after leading the field into the stretch.

Turning for home, Live In The Dream held a clear lead and seemed destined to kick on. Then his lead began to diminish. Suddenly Arzak and Bad Beat Brian became threats in mid-stretch, and Arzak went on to pass Live In The Dream to capture the Woodford by an impressive two lengths.

Surprisingly, Live In The Dream could not hold second. Our Shot and Beer Can Man both passed him in the last few moments to add to the defeat.

Live In The Dream had laid down early fractions of 20.97 and 43.67 seconds in the Woodford, and that scorching pace contributed to his defeat. His go-for-broke style resulted in that extra half furlong being too far for him. But if he set those fractions in a five-furlong race, he might get away with them.

In Europe, Live In The Dream ran almost exclusively in five-furlong races and lost the few times he went outside the realm to stretch out.

Given his stamina problems in the past, Live In The Dream should benefit from the slight cutback to five furlongs in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. He also benefits from the decision not to use the longer downhill turf course.

Tony Ann

At first glance, Tony Ann might feel like an odd choice to benefit from five furlongs considering she won two nine-furlong turf routes at the optional-claiming allowance level in the past. In more recent times though, the 5-year-old mare has benefited from both five and 5 1/2-furlong turf races.

Last November, Tony Ann won a five-furlong optional claiming race at Del Mar by 1 1/4 lengths, which is a clear margin in turf sprints. After a layoff, Tony Ann made a return in the Daisycutter Handicap at the same distance and made a strong closing move to miss by only a half-length.

After the Daisycutter, the connections decided to take a shot in the 6 1/2-furlong Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs. Not only did Tony Ann need to run a little farther again, but she had to travel over a more demanding European-style turf course where the grass is longer.

To Tony Ann’s credit, she fought on in the stretch against Bay Storm, who held on for the win by a neck over the closing Wakanaka. But Tony Ann did not resemble the horse full of run in the Daisycutter. This time, she looked tired late and let Wakanaka beat her for second.

On the cutback to 5 1/2 furlongs, Tony Ann went back to the winner’s circle with a neck win over Caravel in the Franklin Stakes (G2) at Keeneland. From a visual standpoint, she once again resembled the strong closing mare in the Daisycutter over the summer at Del Mar.

Caravel had won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland, which makes Tony Ann’s win in the Franklin an even bigger deal and justifies the risk in sending the filly to Santa Anita to compete against the males in the Breeders' Cup, plus Caravel again as well. 

Tony Ann excels in the five to six-furlong range. Whether this mare can take the Turf Sprint depends on how she fares tackling male turf sprinters. But if Caravel won last year, then she has a chance to win.