BC Turf Sprint J

BREEDERS' CUP

PREVIEWS

A full field of 14 will square off in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf

Sprint (G2) and we went looking for a specialist at the five-furlong distance

with good speed. BRIDGETOWN (Speightstown) fits the bill in our estimation and

is our top choice.

Bridgetown nearly stole the one-mile Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G2) last

year at Santa Anita, leading until the latter stages, and has raced strictly at

shorter distances this year. The chestnut opened his sophomore campaign with a

sharp one-length score in the August 5 Latham S. at Saratoga, rallying from just

off the pace in the early stages, and displayed his terrific quickness when

leading wire-to-wire in the September 6 Gilded Time S. at Monmouth Park,

registering a 107 BRIS Speed rating for the 2 1/2-length decision. He contested

the pace in the six-furlong Nearctic S. (Can-G1) last time until weakening in

the stretch to sixth, but we won't count that effort against him over an

expansive turf course at Woodbine. The Kenny McPeek trainee will return to a

much tighter course at Churchill Downs Saturday and should sit close beneath

Elvis Trujillo before striking.

We nearly went with the filly ROSE CATHERINE (Speightstown) on top but will

settle for using her in the second spot. The Todd Pletcher-conditioned miss

hasn't been facing the stiffest company, but she's looked superb reeling off the

three consecutive stakes tallies in advance of this and turned in an excellent

four-furlong drill over the local turf course in preparation. The talented lass

is very quick and has a chance to post a front-running victory.

SILVER TIMBER (Prime Timber) looms as the horse to beat, but the classy

gelding will be looking to pass a lot of horses from off the pace and his trip

is an issue for us. We question whether he'll have the luxury of closing

extremely wide against the bunch and he risks getting stopped in traffic if

jockey Julien Leparoux decides not to go wide. The seven-year-old gray dropped

two straight as the odds-on favorite before rebounding with a strong win in the

Woodford S. (G3) last out and we have some concern whether he can can continue

to move forward off that performance. But he's obviously a top contender with

his best and can't be dismissed from win consideration.

DUE DATE (El Prado [Ire]) is a late runner that we will include in the

exotics at long odds. The five-year-old returned from a lengthy freshening with

three strong performances for Steve Margolis and even though he has serious

class concerns in this spot, we like the way he's trained for this event and

feel he could continue to move forward with a solid showing.

CENTRAL CITY (City Place) figures to be winging it from the start and ran a

good race when finishing a close third in the Churchill Downs Turf Sprint (G3)

earlier this year. The Woodford runner-up is a threat to hold for part with a

career-best performance. GRAND ADVENTURE (Grand Slam) merits respect off his

runner-up in the Nearctic, but we feel he's probably better at six furlongs. We

can't dismiss his chances completely though for Mark Frostad.

Jaipur S. (G3) winner STRADIVINSKY (Stravinsky) won over the course last spring

and will be flying early, but we can't envision him sustaining his speed in this

spot. UNZIP ME (City Zip) is a classy California filly with six wins in seven

attempts this year, but she may be better at six or 6 1/2 furlongs. Former

claimer QUICK ENOUGH (High Brite) is going good for Doug O'Neill, but he beat

questionable company in the Morvich H. (G3) last time and we can't recommend his

chances in this difficult spot.

WAVELINE (Stravinsky) will pick up the services of Frankie Dettori and is

two-for-three at five or 5 1/2-furlong distances, but the stalker is facing a

stiff class check and doesn't own formidable BRIS Speed or Late Pace numbers.

TROPIC STORM (Stormy Atlantic) is very quick, but we don't like his post (13)

and don't feel he's good enough to make a significant impact.

CHAMBERLAIN BRIDGE (War Chant) has been battling a foot problem and drew a

tough post on the rail. We'll let him beat us. Defending champion CALIFORNIA

FLAG (Avenue of Flags) was in much better form last year and relished the

downhill, about 6 1/2-furlong course at Santa Anita. He'll be a big surprise

this year. CANADIAN BALLET (City Zip) appears overmatched. YIELD BOGEY

(Langfuhr) will be a longshot should he draw in from the also-eligible list.