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BREEDERS' CUP FILLY & MARE SPRINT (G1), 6TH-SA, $1,000,000, 3YO/UP, F/M, 7F, 4:21PM, 11-1
by Vance Hanson The $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint has attracted only a field of 10, but there is a lot riding on the outcome of the seven-furlong dash. In its first seven runnings, the winner has gone on to be named champion female sprinter six times, including two-time champion Groupie Doll. 1ST -- Second to Groupie Doll in the Filly & Mare Sprint last year was JUDY THE BEAUTY, who is on target to make amends for owner-trainer Wesley Ward. Since her half-length defeat a year ago, the Ghostzapper mare has won three of four, taking the Las Flores at Santa Anita, Madison at Keeneland, and Rancho Bernardo at Del Mar in fine style. The only sub-par effort from Judy the Beauty this term was the Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day. Ward took the blame for her loss, a fourth-place effort by six lengths to Midnight Lucky, who was withdrawn from this race and retired last week. Ward said he had been on the fence whether to run her back so quickly following the Madison three weeks earlier. In hindsight, he said he would have given her more time between starts. Judy the Beauty hasn't run since August 17, so she should be fresh as a daisy for this. The main concern is she doesn't typically enjoy getting caught between rivals while running, which Ward speculated might have caused a delay in her uncorking a bid against Groupie Doll last year. 2ND -- Canadian champion LEIGH COURT enters off one of the best last-race preps, a three-length demolition of her rivals in the Thoroughbred Club of America at Keeneland. A speedball on Polytrack and grass, she reverted to her old stalk-and-pounce ways returning to dirt and was helpfully aided by a fast pace. A winner in six of seven starts around one turn, Leigh Court enters in peak form and figures once again to get a strong setup. She's perfect in three starts at this seven-furlong distance and obviously has few faults. 3RD -- The three-year-old STONETASTIC was among the dueling leaders in the Thoroughbred Club of America, and simply didn't have enough left in the tank to fend off Leigh Court in the final furlong or so. A dynamite winner of the Prioress at Saratoga against her peers two back, she would seem better suited to six furlongs having lost all four of her outings beyond that distance. However, with the defection of Midnight Lucky, she now looks like the primary speed of the field and could take them a long way if she can shake loose early. We'll keep her in the minor slots due to distance, but she remains the one to catch. OTHERS -- The sophomore ARTEMIS AGROTERA is one of the top contenders for the divisional title after beating older rivals in both the Ballerina and Gallant Bloom Handicap. However, she had to turn in a Forego-like rally to win after a very slow start, neededing every yard to overtake a rival that had insanely gone out in :21 3/5 and :43 3/5. She's undefeated under a mile, but didn't run particularly well here in the Breeders' Cup last year and might be on the downward part of her form cycle. SWEET REASON, another three-year-old, captured the Acorn and Test before finishing a solid second to Untapable in the 1 1/16-mile Cotillion. The highly-consistent filly certainly fits, but seems a notch slower than her older rivals. LIVING THE LIFE, a former mainstay on the all-weather courses of England, is undefeated in two U.S. starts. She won the Presque Isle Downs Masters, which has yielded numerous winners of this race, but we'll take a stand against her having not raced on dirt before.
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