This year's $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) will be a contest between breeding programs more so than racing stables.
The seven-furlong test on Del Mar's main track has attracted 10 entries that include seven homebreds. Juddmonte has two contenders in multiple grade 1-placed, grade 2 winner Scylla and multiple allowance optional claiming winner Pleasant. The other owner/breeders represented include John Gallegos (One Magic Philly), Klaravich Stables (Ways and Means), Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds (Society), Rabbah Bloodstock (Frost At Dawn), and Stonestreet Stables (Zeitlos).
The field includes three grade 1 winners in Society, Vahva, and Ways and Means.
Society brings one of the strongest records into the Filly & Mare Sprint. She finished fourth in this race last year after she was forced to check with less than a quarter-mile to go by eventual winner Goodnight Olive. Getting the 5-year-old daughter of Gun Runner back to the Breeders' Cup has been central to her plan for the year, which included a seven-month break.
"We wanted the Breeders' Cup to be her third race, and we planned her schedule with these three races in mind," said trainer Steve Asmussen, referring to her previous starts in the June 22 Chicago Stakes (G3) and the Aug. 24 Ballerina Handicap (G1), after her victory by 3 1/4 lengths in the Ballerina. "She's obviously very fast and very generous, so we gave her more spacing in her works, and she came back in training to get to the Breeders' Cup."
Society, with jockey Tyler Gaffalione, got the plan started right with a good third in the Chicago Stakes at Churchill Downs and then made the next step a big one with a commanding win in the Ballerina over Scylla and Vahva. The Ballerina, a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In race for the Filly & Mare Sprint, was Society's second career grade 1 win, following a 5 3/4-length win in the 2022 Cotillion Stakes (G1). The mare has compiled a robust record at seven furlongs with four wins and two thirds out of seven starts at the distance.
Vahva, a 4-year-old daughter of Gun Runner, will provide plenty of competition for Society and others. She has not been off the board in her four starts this year, which include winning the Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1) and beating Society in the Chicago Stakes. Vahva also has more proven success at seven furlongs, with a 5-2-1 record from eight starts at the distance. The filly is trained by Cherie DeVaux for partners Belladonna Racing, Edward Jr. and Lynne Hudson, West Point Thoroughbreds, Nice Guys Stables, Twin Brook Stables, Steve Hornstock, LBD Stable, Manganaro Bloodstock, and Runnels Racing.
Klaravich Stables' Ways and Means, a 3-year-old daughter of Practical Joke (also campaigned by Klaravich with William Lawrence) comes into the Filly & Mare Sprint with consecutive wins in the Test Stakes (G1) and the Gallant Bloom Stakes (G2), which she won by four lengths.
Stonestreet Stables' Zeitlos, a 4-year-old daughter of Curlin raced with Peter Leidel, also comes into the Breeders' Cup off consecutive wins in the Open Mind Stakes and the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (G2), a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series qualifier. Stonestreet bred Goodnight Olive who won the 2022-23 editions of the Filly & Mare Sprint.
