Heavily favored Groupie Doll sewed up the Eclipse award as champion female sprinter and may have put herself in contention for Horse of the Year when she burst clear of Dust and Diamonds in the Santa Anita homestretch to win the $1,000,000 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (gr. I) by daylight.
Ridden to victory by Rajiv Maragh, Groupie Doll was a bit slow to get going during the opening furlong of the race and thus found herself five-wide in sixth-place early on as Teddy's Promise and Dust and Diamonds set fractions of :22.23 and :44.19 seconds. Strike the Moon and Turbulent Descent were also fairly close to the pace, followed then by Musical Romance, Groupie Doll, and Great Hot. Rumor, Belle of the Hall, and Switch were the early trailers.
Going round the turn, Groupie Doll began to accelerate, passing horses with ease as the homestretch approached. Up front, Dust and Diamonds had put away Teddy's Promise and appeared to be going very strongly, but proved no match for Groupie Doll in the homestretch, as the heavy favorite drew clear with powerful strides to win in spectacular fashion while stopping the clock in 1:20.72.
Dust and Diamonds held second over the late-running Switch, while Belle of the Hall rounded out the top four.
-Keelerman
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