The Turf Sprint, for horses 3-years of age and older, combines both speed and agility for international competitors over six and a half furlongs on the downhill turf course at Santa Anita Park.

Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

Creative Force

Irish-bred Creative Force won one of two starts as a juvenile in 2020 and then enjoyed a successful 3-year-old season in 2021 in which he won five of eight starts, including three stakes, and earned more than $600,000. The Dubawi gelding's best performance came in the Group 1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes to close out the year at Ascot, which he won by a length.

Creative Force shipped to Dubai for his first 2022 start and was unplaced in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint Sponsored by Azizi Developments. Trainer Charlie Appleby brought him back to England and Creative Force just missed in the Group 1 Platinum Jubilee Stakes June 18 at Royal Ascot, coming up a neck short in second behind Naval Crown. He then finished fourth in the Group 1 Darley July Cup and third in his bid for a repeat win in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes.

Creative Force is out of the stakes-winning Choisir mare Choose Me and is a half-brother (same dam [mother], different sire [father]) to millionaire and Group 1 winner Persuasive and to stakes winner Tisbutadream.

Flotus

Flotus won her career debut by 4 ¾ lengths on May 22, 2021, taking a 6-furlong turf sprint at Goodwood Racecourse in England by 4 ¾ lengths. Four starts later, the Starspangledbanner (AUS) filly won the British Stallion Studs E.B.F. Ripon Champion Two-Year-Old Trophy by 4 ½ lengths at Ripon on Aug. 30 and then closed out her juvenile season by coming a length short of a Group 1 win in the Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in late September.

In 2022, Flotus returned to compete exclusively in stakes races, winning the July 8 Group 3 William Hill Summer Stakes by 1 ¾ lengths at York and finishing second once and third twice in six starts overall through the end of September. On Sept. 11, she checked in third behind Highfield Princess (FR) and Erosandpsyche (IRE) in the Group 1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh.

Flotus is out of the winning Invincible Spirit (IRE) mare Floriade (IRE).

Emaraaty Ana

Emaraaty Ana was a group stakes winner as a 2-year-old in 2018 and the Shamardal gelding added a Group 1 win in 2021 when he won the Betfair Sprint Cup by a nose at Haydock Park. He then shipped over to the U.S. for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and finished fourth behind impressive winner Golden Pal.

Campanelle

Campanelle made her career debut at Gulfstream Park in a five-furlong maiden special weight race on May 31, 2020. She never trailed, bursting out of the gate on top and crossing the wire 3 1/2 lengths in front.

After that win, trainer Wesley Ward sent the Kodiac filly to Royal Ascot for the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes. She won that race for her first graded stakes triumph. She added another stakes win to her credentials on Aug. 23, 2020, at Deauville, in France, when she won the Group 1 Darley Prix Morny- Finale des Darley Series.

Following a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Campanelle took several months off. She returned with a victory in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot on June 18, 2021. She next was shipped to France and was unplaced Aug. 8 in a Group 1 race on soft turf at Deauville. A little more than two months later, Campanelle returned to action in the United States in the Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County Stakes Oct. 15 at Keeneland. She was shuffled back in the early stages of the race and closed resolutely to finish third as the 6-5 favorite.

Campanelle made her 2022 debut in the Giant's Causeway Stakes at Keeneland on April 16. She rated off the pace a few paths off the rail in the early stages, then moved powerfully to the front in the stretch and won going away. She ran 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass in 1:01.98, to set a new stakes record. Shipped back to England for a return engagement at the Royal Ascot meeting, Campanelle finished third by three-quarters of a length in the Group 1 Platinum Jubilee Stakes. Back in the U.S. for her third start of the year, Campanelle outfinished a determined Bay Storm to win the Grade 3 Mint Ladies Turf Sprint in a thrilling finish at Kentucky Downs.

Irish-bred Campanelle is out of the stakes-winning Namid mare Janina.

Go Bears Go

Go Bears Go showed promise from the outset of his career, winning his debut in May 2021 at Ascot before running second by a head in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting in June.

Go Bears Go earned his first stakes victory in his next start when taking the Group 2 Gain Railway Stakes June 26 at The Curragh and next finished third by less than a length in the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes in August, also at the Curragh.

Following a pair of unplaced finishes in Group 1 races at Newmarket, Go Bears Go was shipped to the U.S. by trainer David Loughnane and finished second by a half-length to Twilight Gleaming (IRE) in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

The dark bay or brown Kodi Bear (IRE) colt stayed at sprint distances for his 3-year-old season, winning a Group 3 sprint in April 2022 at Ascot and another Group 3 race in August at The Curragh.

Go Bears Go is out of the winning Giant's Causeway mare In Dubai, a half-sister to Group 1 winner Nahrain, runner-up in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Highfield Princess

During her first two seasons of racing at ages 3 and 4 in Europe, Highfield Princess established her credentials as a talented filly by compiling a record of seven wins, four seconds, and four thirds over 21 starts in 2020 and 2021. During that span, she won a stakes race in England and finished in the top three twice in British group stakes.

Highfield Princess enjoyed a breakout season in 2022, winning the Group 2 1895 Duke of York Clipper Logistics Stakes in May and then the Group 1 Arc Prix Maurice de Gheest by three-quarters of a length in August at Deauville to establish herself as an elite European sprinter.

The 5-year-old Night of Thunder mare is a half-sister (same dam, different sire) to group stakes winner Cardsharp.

Arrest Me Red

Arrest Me Red, a 3-year-old Pioneerof the Nile colt owned and bred by Roy and Gretchen Jackson's Lael Stables, broke his maiden impressively at Laurel Park on Aug. 27, 2020, winning a 5 ½-length turf sprint by 4 ½ lengths. He made three more starts as a juvenile and won the six-furlong Atlantic Beach Stakes on turf at Aqueduct in November.

The Jacksons moved Arrest Me Red from trainer Arnaud Delacour to Wesley Ward for his 3-year-old campaign, and he did not make his debut until Aug. 11, when he won the 5 ½-furlong Mahony Stakes at Saratoga by a neck. His next start came in the $200,000, Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational Stakes on Oct. 2. With Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons, Arrest Me Red took over the lead soon after the start. He maintained that advantage into the stretch, shook off a brief challenge from Pulsate, and remained clear to post an impressive one-length win, his first in a graded stakes.

Arrest Me Red made his next start in the Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship Stakes on Nov. 27. He broke on top, and encountered steady pressure while on the lead. In the stretch, he continued to fend off his rivals and held on to win by a diminishing head.

Arrest Me Red made his 4-year-old debut in the Silks Run Stakes March 19, 2022, at Gulfstream Park, where he split horses while rallying for third, beaten by a length. He regained his winning form in his next start when he edged clear in the stretch to post a 1 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes presented by Sysco on the May 6 Longines Kentucky Oaks undercard.

Arrest Me Red is out of the winning Medaglia d'Oro mare Maraschino Red, and is a half-brother to stakes winner Hidden Treat. His dam is a half-sister to Grade 1 winners Spun Sugar and Daaher.

Golden Pal

After finishing second in his career debut in April at Gulfstream Park on the main track, Golden Pal was sent across the Atlantic for the Royal Ascot meet in England and ran a terrific race to be second in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes, in which he was headed in the final strides.

He returned to the U.S. for trainer Wesley Ward and stayed on the turf, winning the Skidmore Stakes by 3 ½ lengths in front-running fashion in August at Saratoga Race Course.

Golden Pal was sent off as the odds-on favorite in the Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and led from start to finish to win by three-parts of a length in a powerful performance under Irad Ortiz Jr.

Golden Pal made his first start since winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in the Grade 3 Quick Call Stakes on Saratoga's opening day of July 15, 2021. Sent off as the odds-on favorite, he jumped to the early lead and was not challenged throughout the 5 ½-furlong turf race, winning by three lengths as Irad Ortiz kept him to task in the stretch.

Golden Pal shipped back to England for his next start, the Group 1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes on Aug. 20, he faded to finish seventh. In his return to the United States, he won the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes Presented by TVG at Keeneland on Oct. 9. He stayed in top form with a dominant gate-to-wire win in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 6. He broke on top and ran the rest of them off their feet. His time of 54.75 seconds for five furlongs equaled the track record.

Returning from a six-month layoff in the Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes April 9 at Keeneland, Golden Pal looked like he had not missed a beat as he set a blistering pace through an opening quarter-mile in 20.94 seconds and overwhelmed the opposition in a runaway victory under Irad Ortiz Jr. He completed the 5 1/2 furlongs on turf rated as good in 1:02.21.

Golden Pal's dam (mother) is graded stakes winner Lady Shipman, a winner of 13 of 21 career races, including 11 stakes wins, and the runner-up in the 2015 TwinSpires.com Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

Caravel

This Pennsylvania-bred filly started her career with three consecutive victories. She broke her maiden by 1 1/4 lengths on the turf at Penn National on June 24, 2020, then crushed a Pennsylvania-bred allowance field at the same track on July 29. On Aug. 24, she won her first stakes race, taking the Lady Erie Stakes at Presque Isle Downs by 3 1/4 lengths. After a third-place finish in the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico, Caravel bounced back with a win in the Malvern Rose Stakes at Presque Isle on Oct. 22.

Caravel began her 4-year-old season with a third-place finish in the License Fee Stakes at Belmont Park on Apr. 30, 2021. However, she quickly found her best form after that. She won The Very One Stakes at Pimlico on May 14 and the Goldwood Stakes at Monmouth Park on June 25. On the strength of those two wins, she was the even-money favorite in the Grade 3 Caress Stakes at Saratoga on July 24. She stalked the pace and drew away to victory. It was the first graded stakes win for co-owner, trainer, and breeder Elizabeth Merryman.

Caravel was transferred to Graham Motion after the Caress and finished third in her next start in the Grade 1 Highlander Stakes at Woodbine, but then went off form and finished off the board in her final two 2021 starts, including a last-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

In 2022, she began her 5-year-old season with trainer Brad Cox and won the listed Queen Stakes in wire-to-wire finish over Turfway Park's synthetic track. After a sixth-place effort in a Grade 2 stakes at Churchill Downs in May, Caravel captured her second graded stakes with another pacesetting victory, this time in the Grade 3 Intercontinental Stakes at Belmont Park on June 10.

Following that win, Caravel finished a disappointing last of nine when favored in the Grade 3 Caress Stakes at Saratoga. She rebounded to win a listed stakes later in Saratoga's summer meet, and then finished fourth when trying the synthetic Tapeta surface in the Grade 2 Presque Isle Masters Stakes on Sept. 19.

Caravel then returned to turf and made her first start at Keeneland a winning one by taking the Grade 3 Franklin Stakes on Oct. 16.

Casa Creed

Casa Creed won an off-the-turf maiden race in his second career race, edging away in the stretch to win by 1 ½ lengths in August 2018 at Saratoga.

Unplaced in two subsequent stakes races on the main track, Casa Creed returned to the turf for his 3-year-old bow and won the Kitten's Joy Stakes in January at Gulfstream Park. Two starts later, the Jimmy Creed colt ran second in the Grade 3 Palm Beach Stakes at Gulfstream in March. After an unplaced finish in the Grade 2 American Turf Stakes Presented by Ram Trucks on the Kentucky Derby undercard, Casa Creed ran second in the Grade 2 Penn Mile in June and third by a half-length in the Manila Stakes in July.

Casa Creed earned a breakthrough graded stakes win in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes on Aug. 2, 2019 at Saratoga. Casa Creed moved up to challenge for the lead entering the stretch and gamely outfinished Sombeyay by a head to prevail in a thrilling finish.

Casa Creed won stakes races in back-to-back starts in the spring of 2021. He won the Elusive Quality Stakes at Belmont Park on April 24, storming from behind to win by a head. He made a similar rally in the Grade 1 Jackpocket Jaipur Stakes on June 5 to win in a 10.80-1 upset. Because the Jaipur is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, Casa Creed earned a spot in the gate for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 7 with that win.

During the remainder of 2021, Casa Creed ran creditably but was winless in three starts, finishing third in the Fourstardave Handicap, fifth in the FanDuel Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs, and then eighth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, but only beaten by 3 ½ lengths. His connections sent him to the Middle East to kick off his 6-year-old campaign, and Casa Creed finished second by a neck in a turf sprint at Saudi Arabia and then fifth in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai before coming back to his New York base.

After some time off, Casa Creed attempted a repeat win in the Jaipur Stakes on June 11 as part of the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets undercard. He saved ground through the turf of the six-furlong sprint with Luis Saez aboard, angled out in deep stretch, and ran down favored Arrest Me Red for an impressive victory. As in 2021, Casa Creed earned a Breeders' Cup berth with his Jaipur win, punching his ticket to the Turf Sprint at Keeneland in November.

Bran

After starting his career win his native France, Bran began racing in the United States in early 2022. He won his first stakes race on April 10, when he won the Siren Lure Stakes at Santa Anita Park by a half-length. Two starts later, he won the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes on May 29, for his first graded stakes victory.

Cazadero

Cazadero led from start to finish to win his career debut May 29, 2020, in a five-furlong race at Churchill Downs. Tested next against graded stakes competition, the bay Street Sense colt stalked the pace in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes and surged clear to a 4 ¾-length win as the 2-5 favorite.

In a four-race 3-year-old campaign in 2021, Cazadero won once in a $100,000 Churchill Downs allowance race on June 19, and also added a pair of allowance seconds, one at Churchill and one at Oaklawn Park.

Cazadero had seven months off between races from January 2022, and returned to begin his 4-year-old season in earnest when finishing third in an allowance optional claiming race at Saratoga on Aug. 27.

Cadadero went to Woodbine for his next start in the Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes at Woodbine on Oct. 8, and made a last-to-first rally to top a field of eight going six furlongs in 1:09.11 for a 2 1/4-length victory.

A Stonestreet Stables homebred, Cazadero is out of multiple graded stakes winner Wild Gams, by Forest Wildcat, and is a half-sibling (same dam [mother], different sire [father]) to stakes winner Mt. Brave and Grade 3-placed winner Almost Famous.

Artemus Citylimits

Artemus Citylimits, a mid-to-upper-level claiming horse in 2021, has risen within the turf sprinting ranks in 2022.

After a few close losses to begin the season - a pair of second and a third - he won back-to-back allowance optional claiming races in New York this July when not racing for a claiming price. He then stepped up in class and showed his stakes quality, first with a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 FanDuel Turf Sprint Stakes Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs and then with a third in the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes Presented by FanDuel at Keeneland Oct. 8.

In the race at Kentucky Downs, he set the pace under Tyler Gaffalione, and nearly led throughout before caught in the closing strikes by Bran (FR). Arrest Me Red, another elite grass sprinter, was a length farther back in third.

He would face another ace turf runner in Golden Pal at Keeneland, and after that speedster, ended up third, beaten just a length and a half, again under Gaffalione. The gelding was nipped by a nose on the wire for second by late-running Oceanic.

A 5-year-old Temple City gelding bred by Gunpowder Farms out of the stakes-winning mare Dene Court, Artemus Citylimits races for trainer Mike Maker and owners Paradise Farms Corp., David Staudacher, and Michael Dubb. Maker and Dubb have captured multiple Breeders' Cup races.

Golden Pal Aims For Breeders' Cup Three-Peat

Trainer Wesley Ward is leaving nothing to chance this week as he prepares Golden Pal for his career finale in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint with what could be a record-tying third victory in the World Championships. Rather than getting him out of the track at Keeneland as soon as it opens in morning, Ward is committed to having him take to the track for his daily exercise at the very end of training hours.

"I like to gallop him really, really late when no one's on the track," Ward said Tuesday. "He's very, very relaxed when no one's out there when he's got the track to himself, as most horses are. You take him up there when horses are breezing and lots of gallopers, he kind of wants to go. In the next few days we're going to take him real, real late when essentially he'll be the only one galloping out there."

Ward has often described the 4-year-old son of Uncle Mo as the best horse he has trained. Golden Pal, owned by the Coolmore partnership of Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier and Westerberg, is 8-2-0 in 12 career starts. He snagged his first Breeders' Cup victory in the 2020 Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland. Last year, he added the Turf Sprint to his resume. Should he repeat Saturday, he will join Hall of Famers Goldikova and Beholder as the only horses with three victories in the World Championships.

Breeders' Cup week started well for Ward when Golden Pal and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. drew post eight in the field of 14 going 5 ½ furlongs.

"I was very happy with his post," Ward said. "Post eight, we're out there a ways to where he can break and this way Irad will get a sense of what he wants to do. If he breaks as sharp as he usually does, he can kind of ease over to the rail. Or, if somebody catches a flyer and breaks like him Irad will be able to ride his race from there. I was really happy with his post."

Golden Pal has raced at six tracks during his career and is unbeaten in four starts at Keeneland, where Ward's stable is based. Ward said Golden Pal is doing well.

"We're ready to roll," Ward said. "He's been pointing for this since last year's race. This is a race that I asked Michael Tabor right after the horse crossed the finish line, we're heading to the winner's circle, if we could get one more year. Before we got on camera, I kind of wanted to pin him down a little bit. He didn't see why not. So here we are today."

Golden Pal has won five of his last six starts. The only blemish this year was in June in the King's Stand at Royal Ascot. Typically, quick out of the gate, Golden Pal missed the break because Ortiz was distracted by a horse acting up behind the gate. It left him 0-for-3 tries in high-profile stakes in England, where Ward has a strong record of success.

"Just bad luck. It just goes to show you that in racing there's so much luck involved that everything has to go right," Ward said. "Unfortunately, this year when we went and that was going to be very big for him as a stallion, is if he could do it at Ascot in front of all the European breeders. I've never had anything like that happen to me and all these 30-plus years of training, Irad and I walked the course with Steve Cauthen. Steve gave him all the insights of Ascot Racecourse and The King's Stand and everything that happens being a rider that this was brand new to him running there.

"I told him, 'Look, you've got to be ready, almost like the Kentucky Derby. Like when those horses are in the gate the starter just pushes it, no matter if it's a horse rearing up.' What I've seen so many times that I've been over. It wouldn't happen in the States, the way that the starter runs the course over there. So there was an unruly 99-1 shot in the back of the gate and Irad was looking back. What he did not know is that, the starter, at any time, can deem the horse out and just push the button and go. As Irad was looking completely back the starter pushed the button, ruled the horse as scratched. All the other riders know the rules and they were ready and Irad wasn't. He almost fell off the horse, we broke dead last and that was it."

Recent Breeders Cup' Turf Sprint Winners

What is the Breeders Cup' Turf Sprint?

The Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint is a Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. As its name implies, it is a part of the Breeders' Cup thoroughbred championships, the de facto year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing. The distance of the race will vary depending on the host track's turf course requirements.

The Turf Sprint is a fast and furious charge across the downhill turf course and into the homestretch at Santa Anita Park this year. Run at approximately 1400 yards (6.5 furlongs) for horses 3-years of age and older, this race combines both speed and agility for the international competitors. The race was run for the first time in 2008 during the second day of Breeders' Cup racing at that year's host track, Santa Anita Park.

Distance : 6.5 Furlongs

The 2008 race was held at a distance of six and a half furlongs and was contested on Santa Anita's signature El Camino Real "downhill" turf course. In 2008 the race was limited to 14 starters. Besides Santa Anita, the only tracks in North America capable of contesting longer than six and 1/2 furlong turf races are Woodbine and Belmont. Churchill Downs, which has hosted the Breeders' Cup eight times, only conducts turf sprints at 5 furlongs. Breeders' Cup Officials did announce a preferred distance for the race, unlike all other Breeders' Cup races.

Because of technical requirements, it was not eligible for classification as a graded stakes race in its first two runnings. Starting in 2010, it was a Grade II race, and was upgraded to Grade I for 2012.

Automatic Berths
Beginning in 2007, the Breeders' Cup developed "The Breeders' Cup Challenge," a series of races in each division that alloted automatic qualifying bids to winners of defined races. Each of the fourteen divisions has between three and six of these, "Win and You're In," qualifiers. In the Breeders' Cup Distaff Division there are four automatic births.

2024 BREEDERS' CUP RACE SCHEDULE