Brown Confirms Jack Christopher to Run in BC Sprint

Jack Christopher, pre-entered in both the Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) and Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), will race in the Sprint at Keeneland Nov. 5, trainer Chad Brown said Oct. 30. The decision was not unexpected, as Brown had listed the six-furlong Sprint as first preference at the time of pre-entries for the dual grade 1-winning son of Munnings. But connections are not committed to running their horses in initial first-preference races, having the flexibility to opt for a second-preference race when official entries are due. Entries for the Breeders' Cup will be taken Oct. 31 before post positions are drawn in the afternoon. "Him being undefeated around one turn tipped the scale for me," said Brown, a four-time Eclipse Award winner. The Dirt Mile is a two-turn race at Keeneland, which has a 1 1/16-mile main track. The race begins with a short run to the first turn and ends at what is typically the sixteenth pole. Jack Christopher, owned by Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud, and Peter Brant, is 5-for-6, with his lone defeat being a third-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park around two turns. He is a four-time stakes winner around one turn, taking the one-mile Champagne Stakes (G1) last year at 2, and this year adding the Pat Day Mile Stakes presented by LG&E and KU (G2) at a mile and the Woody Stephens Stakes Presented by Mohegan Sun (G1) and H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1), both at seven furlongs. The Jerkens was his most recent start, Aug. 27 at Saratoga Race Course. Jack Christopher's lone start at six furlongs came when he debuted in August 2021 of his 2-year-old year. He pressed the leader and drew off for an 8 3/4-length victory. The $2 million Sprint offers twice the purse as the $1 million Dirt Mile and could have championship implications. In the Sprint, Jack Christopher is set to take on Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior, with the outcome of the race likely to strongly influence Eclipse Award voters for champion male sprinter honors. Jackie's Warrior, who had a stellar 3-year-old campaign in 2021, was the champion sprinter last year despite fading to sixth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar behind late-running Aloha West, who returns for the 2022 renewal. This will be the first Breeders' Cup start for Jack Christopher, who missed last year's TVG Breeders 'Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) when he was scratched due to an issue with his left shin. He had a screw inserted in a surgical procedure a few weeks later. Jackie's Warrior also had surgery last fall following the Breeders' Cup, though for a knee chip. Both colts have excelled in 2022. A 4-year-old son of Maclean's Music, multi-millionaire Jackie's Warrior has twice lost as the odds-on favorite in the Breeders' Cup. Two years ago he was fourth at Keeneland in a hot-paced Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles, which is beyond his most effective distance.