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Work All Week stays undefeated on dirt with BC Sprint upset

A jubilant Florent Geroux celebrated his win aboard the Chicago-based longshot Work All Week (Lauren Pomeroy/Horsephotos.com) Work All Week is not technically perfect, but he is on dirt. The Illinois-bred gelding pushed his record to 10-for-10 over sandy loam surfaces with an upset victory Saturday in the Grade 1, $1,380,000 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita. Under Florent Geroux, the 19-1 chance broke sharply from post 13 an d tracked in second behind a wicked pace of :21 and :43 1/5 set by the three-year-old Fast Anna. Collaring that rival turning for home, Work All Week opened up a length advantage at the eighth pole and held off 2013 Sprint winner Secret Circle by a half-length in a time of 1:08 1/5 for six furlongs on a fast track. He returned $40.20 to win. "It feels great. It is a dream come true," Geroux said. "To compete in these races and win on the first try is unbelievable. Especially with a horse from home: Illinois-bred and for (trainer) Roger Breuggemann. A great trainer nobody knows because he flies under the radar and improves horses a lot.

"Work All Week has always been so good. Today was the real test to see if he can go with the best sprinters in the country, and he just did it. It's funny because when he made the lead he really put the breaks on, and I had to say 'No, don't stop!' and get him going again and he gave me more."

Secret Circle finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Private Zone, who held third by a neck over Bourbon Courage. Fast Anna, Palace, Salutos Amigos, Bakken, Big Macher, Indianapolis, Seeking the Sherif, Mico Margarita, Wind Fire, and 5-2 favorite Wind Tapestry completed the order of finish.

"I thought he would move up in class, I really did but you never know," said Breuggemann, who trains the five-year-old son of City Zip for owner-breeder Midwest Thoroughbreds.

Likely favored to be named champion male sprinter, Work All Week now possesses a mark of 15-12-2-0, $1,357,571. The five-year-old gelding earned his first open stakes wins earlier this year in the $100,000 Hot Springs at Oaklawn on March 8 and later scored in the $125,000 Iowa Sprint Handicap at Prairie Meadows in June. He most recently added the October 3 Phoenix, a Grade 3 event at Keeneland. In 2013, Work All Week won a pair of stakes for Illinois-breds -- the $50,000 Tex's Zing at Fairmount Park and the $100,00 Lightning Jet Handicap at Hawthorne.

One stakes for Illinois-breds has eluded him thus far. Both this year and last, Work All Week has finished second in the Addison Cammack Handicap at Arlington. The latest renewal came was July 26, his last start prior to the Phoenix.

A son of City Zip, Work All Day was reared by the stakes-placed Danzig Matilda, a daughter of Repriced.

Click here for the transcript from the winning connections.

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