Dance to Bristol tunes up with Bowie bullet

Dance to Bristol put in her final work at the Bowie Training Center Friday

morning, eight days before the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at

Santa Anita. The Ollie Figgins III trainee stopped the clock in :58 3/5, the

fastest drill of the morning at the five-furlong distance. Regular rider Xavier

Perez was aboard.

"That is what we needed today," Figgins said. "I generally don't like to let

her rock that much but I usually work her seven days out. Today we are eight so

I wanted a little more."

Dance to Bristol has won seven of her nine starts this year, including three

graded stakes races. The daughter of Speightstown began her four-year old

campaign with a second place finish in the What a Summer at Laurel in January.

Then, with Perez picking up the mount, the filly reeled off seven straight

victories from February through August, including a win in the Skipat at Pimlico

and three graded races in New York: the Bed o' Roses, the Honorable Miss, and

the Ballerina.

"To have the opportunity to ride a horse of this caliber is a dream come

true," Perez said. “We are going to the Super Bowl of racing, going against the

best of the best. It is an unbelievable feeling to know that I am going into the

race with a horse that has a shot to win the race. We have been competing

against most of the same runners next weekend."

Figgins indicated his star would ship to Southern California tomorrow

morning. A victory next Saturday would likely mean an Eclipse Award in the filly

and mare sprint division.

"We have a very live shot and I always feel that with her," Figgins said.

"Every time she goes to the gate I feel like she is going to be the winner

because she gives it her all. It is a great thrill to have a nice horse with the

talent to go to New York and win graded races. The Bed o' Roses performance was

the race where I knew she was a horse of that caliber. It has been a lot of

fun."

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