FILLY & MARE SPRINT

Great Hot – The Brazilian-bred filly jogged 2m Thursday morning on the main track at Churchill Downs, completing her work just as the predicted rain began to fall.

“Oh, I wish they were running our race today on the wet,” trainer A.C. Avila said. “You know, when she won her first start in Brazil last October, she was only a 2-year-old running against older horses and males. And she won the race easily on a wet track. She likes it that way.

“She was born in February down there (her dam had been bred to North American sprint champion Orientate) and all their foals usually come along in August. So she had to run against older, but she caught her track and ran well.”


Her Smile – The 3yo daughter of Include will be looking for her second victory in nine starts this season when starting in the Sentient Jet Breeder’s Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Her only victory came in the Prioress at Belmont Park on Independence Day.

“She’s very similar to (Sprint starter) Aikenite,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, following her Thursday morning gallop. “She needs a fast pace setup. She seems to really like this track, so we hope she can jump up.”

Unfortunately those occasions have been few and far between. She was soundly defeated by Filly & Mare Sprint contender Turbulent Descent at Saratoga in the Test after winning the Prioress.

“In the Prioress, we had a perfect setup,” Pletcher said. “It was one of those rare occasions where you analyze a race before and project and it unfolds exactly like you thought. Five other fillies went for the lead and we sat back. Every once in a while it unfolds like that.”


Pomeroys Pistol – The multiple stakes winner was on the track Thursday morning for a 1m gallop and afterward Amy Tarrant, who trains, owns, and bred the 3yo filly at her Hardacre Farm in Florida, said that she understands this race has come up pretty salty.

“This is a very tough race,” Tarrant said. “It should be because it’s the Breeders’ Cup and the field is the best. But she belongs here. She earned her spot.”

Pomeroys Pistol punched her ticket to Churchill Downs by beating a field that included older fillies and mares by four lengths in the Gallant Bloom Handicap at Belmont in her last start on Sept. 11.

“I’ve owned and trained some nice racehorses, but winning a Graded stake with a homebred is very special,” said Tarrant, a self-described late bloomer who didn’t buy her first horse until she was 56 and got her trainer’s license in 2003.

Pomeroys Pistol has started once at Churchill this year, competing in the Eight Belles on Kentucky Derby Day where she finished a distant sixth. Tarrant believes the large crowd and all of the Derby Day commotion may have had an adverse affect on her filly’s performance.

Will Breeders’ Cup Friday present a similar challenge?

“I think that racing on Derby Day did have an impact on her,” Tarrant said. “But she’s older and more mature now so I don’t think the lights and all of the commotion and people will bother her.

“I think she’ll handle it fine as long as she’s quiet in the paddock. When she’s quiet there, she always runs her race."

Pomeroys Pistol will break from post 12 under Javier Castellano, who picked up the mount for the first time in the Gallant Bloom.

“I don’t mind my outside post,” Tarrant said. “I’d rather be on the outside than stuck down on the rail because there are so many horses in the race. I’m confident in my rider. He knows her, and he’ll know what to do.”


Switch – The daughter of Quiet American had a quiet morning at Churchill Downs Thursday, walking the shedrow at Barn 36.

“I’m going to school her in the paddock for the first race today,” trainer John Sadler said. “That will be it for her; she’s good to go.”

The trainer was asked if he had looked at the past performances of the horses in the 13-horse field for the Filly & Mare Sprint and how he saw the race unfolding for his 4yo filly, who finished second in the same race last year.

“I have looked and I see her taking up a good stalking position,” he said. “Then she’s going to pounce and get them. At least I hope so.”

Sadler also reported that Switch will race again next year.

“She’s going to have a two-month vacation after this race and get turned out at Rancho Paseana (in Southern California near Del Mar),” Sadler said. “Then we’ll bring her back in and get her started on a 2012 campaign. I’m really delighted about that.”


Turbulent Descent – With rain in the forecast Thursday morning, trainer Mike Puype altered his training routine a bit, taking his 3yo filly to the track much earlier than usual for a 1 1/2m jog and a 1 1/2m gallop.

“She’s ready,” Puype said in advance of Friday’s Filly & Mare Sprint where she is the morning-line favorite at odds of 6-5. Puype said he’s hoping for a repeat of her victory in Saratoga’s Test Stakes Aug. 6. That victory, by 3 3/4 lengths, improved her career record to six wins and two seconds in eight starts.