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

2019 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Recap - Belvoir Bay

Breaking from the outside, Belvoir Bay shot like a bullet out of the gate and wired the field in Saturday's $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita Park.

At odds of 14-1, the six-year-old mare Belvoir Bay went right to the front and never looked back as she set blazing fractions of :21.47 and :43.13. She never slowed a bit as she cruised to the wire with a track record-breaking final time of :54.83.

Shekky Shebaz and Final Frontier also broke well but never stood a chance against the speedy Belvoir Bay. Om also made a nice late run and looked ready to challenge but couldn't get up in time and settled for second. Shekky Shebaz finished third, Final Frontier was fourth, and the 7-2 post time favorite Pure Sensation was fifth.

Belvoir Bay returned $31.60 to win, $14.40 to place, and $7.60 to show. Om brought back $13.80 to place and $7.60 to show, while Shekky Shebaz paid $5.60 to show.

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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.

2019 BREEDERS' CUP RACE SCHEDULE