Tiffany Beats the Boys at Kentucky Downs and Punches a Breeders' Cup Turf Ticket

The Kentucky Turf Cup is a mile and a half over undulating Kentucky Downs turf with two million dollars on the line and a fees-paid berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf for the winner. On Saturday it belonged to a mare. Tiffany, a six-year-old daughter of Farhh trained in England by Sir Mark Prescott, ran down the males and won by 1¾ lengths in 2:26.37 over firm ground.

Luke Morris rode her with the patience the race demands. Layabout set a steady pace under Keith Asmussen while Morris sat third, waiting. In the upper stretch a seam opened along the rail. Tiffany went through it and the race was over quickly. Morris said afterward that she showed a great turn of foot, that once she split horses up the inside he won quite comfortably. It was his first graded stakes win in the United States.

Ethical Diamond, the Willie Mullins runner with Ryan Moore up, was second. Fort George was third under Jamie Spencer, four lengths back. Dresden Row and Tyler Gaffalione were fourth, and Layabout, having done the dirty work on the front end, held fifth. The winner's share was $582,800 for owner Elite Racing 004.

The Breeders' Cup implications are the reason the race exists. Tiffany now has an automatic, expenses-paid spot in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Turf, and her connections have said the plan is to ship her home to Europe before returning for the fall championships. That is a demanding itinerary for a six-year-old mare, but Prescott has never been a trainer who runs horses that cannot handle the trip.

Kentucky Downs drew two of the strongest European fields of its meet this year, and the Turf Cup result confirms what the Breeders' Cup has been for a decade: the mile-and-a-half grass race is a European event held on American soil. Jon Stettin will have more on the Turf division and the rest of the Challenge series on Past the Wire, Friday at 7 p.m. ET and Saturday at 8 a.m. ET.