Bobby's Kitten Seeking Second Turf Sprint

Always one of the most competitive races on the World Championships card, this year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (gr. IT) at 5 1/2 furlongs features the return of last year's winner, Bobby's Kitten, and a trio from Keeneland-based trainer Wesley Ward.



Since winning last year's Turf Sprint at six furlongs on the downhill turf course at Santa Anita Park, Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Bobby's Kitten has had an extended break from competition and has not been a factor in two 2015 starts.



In the Play the King Stakes (Can-IIT) at Woodbine in August, Bobby's Kitten was uncharacteristically on the lead early under Joel Rosario in a fast pace and eventually finished seventh. In the Shadwell Turf Mile (gr. IT) at Keeneland Oct. 3, Bobby's Kitten was rank in a stiff hold from the rider, with the chart noting "fought restraint early."



Trained by Chad Brown, Bobby's Kitten, a son of the Ramseys' leading sire Kitten's Joy  , has won five of 13 starts and earned $1,299,766. In the Turf Sprint, Javier Castellano, who was aboard for a third in the 2013 Breeders' Cup juvenile Turf (gr. IT), will ride. The colt's connections are looking for an improvement on his 2015 form.



Ward's three-ply entry is headed by Wes Welker and Sol Kumin's Undrafted, the 5-year-old Purim gelding who became Ward's first group I winner in England when he took the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at the Royal Ascot meet this year while carrying a hefty 129 pounds.



Undrafted, who drew post three, has earned a reputation as a sprint closer who is right there, but not on top at the wire in many starts. Coming into the Cup, Undrafted has five wins, including the 2014 Jaipur Invitational Stakes (gr. IIIT) to his credit, but has finished second or third on 10 occasions. Before he became a turf specialist, Undrafted was on the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) trail in 2013, placing in the Swale (gr. III) and Hutcheson Stakes (gr. II).



Ward acknowledges that 5 1/2 furlongs is not Undrafted's ideal distance, but hopes that he can benefit from the return of Frankie Dettori, who rode him in the Diamond Jubilee, as jockey and benefit from having the Breeders' Cup at his home track. Undrafted is coming into the race off a second to Tourist in the $300,000 More Than Ready Mile Stakes at Kentucky Downs.



Ward will also be represented in the Turf Sprint by The Great War, owned by Joseph Allen and the Coolmore Stud connections of Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier, and Derrick Smith, and Abdullah Saeed Almaddah's Green Mask. To be ridden by Ryan Moore, The Great War drew post 10 and Green Mask breaks from post seven, with Joel Rosario up.

Green Mask finished a close-up third in the Al Quoz Sprint Empowered by IPIC (UAE-I) in March and returned to the races with a fourth, only a half-length behind winner Sweet Luca, in the Kentucky Downs Turf Dash.



Making her graded stakes debut is Ranlo Investments' Lady Shipman, who has never been worse than third in 11 starts—nine of which have come in 2015. Trained by Kathleen O'Connell, Lady Shipman has won six stakes and most recently finished second to Ageless in the Buffalo Trace Franklin County Stakes at Keeneland.

Lady Shipman, who will be ridden by Irad Ortiz, drew post five.