LEXINGTON, KY – In true Cinderella fashion, Bearstone Stud homebred Glass Slippers toppled her mixed-gender rivals and pulled off the 10/1 upset in Saturday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Keeneland.
Glass Slippers broke from post 6 under Tom Eaves and settled well off the pace while Into Mystic held a narrow early advantage over Wildman Jack through a quick opening 1/4-mile in :21.26.
Glass Slippers began advancing through the corner and straightened for home full of run, allowing Eaves to steer her past rivals while finding room along the inside.
Tipping out near the 1/8 pole and forcing slower rivals to check, Glass Slippers surged to the lead and held off a late-running Wet Your Whistle to win by a 1/2-length.
The Kevin Ryan trainee completed the 5 1/2-furlong good turf sprint in 1:01.53.
“What a training performance,” Eaves said. “She’s been great all year, so to come and win, it’s unreal. She’s raced round a bend before, but the plan was to go on the inside and ride for a bit of luck. We had a great run through, which doesn’t always work, but it did today. To have a Breeders’ Cup winner is amazing and a day I won’t forget.”
The 4/1 favorite Leinster was another 1/2-length back in third, heading Extravagant Kid for those honors.
Got Stormy, Front Run the Fed, Wildman Jack, Bombard, Oleksandra, Big Runnuer, Texas Wedge, Into Mystic, Imprimis, and Just Might completed the order of finish.
Equilateral, Chaos Theory, Archidust, and Bulletproof One all scratched as Also Eligibles.
Glass Slippers’ win came in her North American racing debut and improved her overall record to 17-7-3-1 with $1,123,796 earned. The British-bred 4-year-old Dream Ahead filly became the first European-based horse to win the Turf Sprint in the race’s 13-year history.
“I’m ecstatic,” Ryan said. “To come and compete against the best sprinters in the world and beat them is just amazing. She’s been great all week, every day, getting fresher and cantering on the turf track every morning. … Today was our day.”
Glass Slippers returned $22.40 to win, $10.60 to place, and $6.60 to show. Wet Your Whistle brought back $25 to place and $15 to show, while Leinster paid $3.60 to show.
