California Flag flies to Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint win

ARCADIA, California (AFP) - – California Flag, trained by Brian Koriner and ridden by Joe Talamo, ran away with the one million-dollar Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on Saturday at Santa Anita Park.

The locally-based grey gelding, who holds the Santa Anita turf course record for the race distance of 6 1/2 furlongs, lived up to his speedster reputation and 9-2 favourite's status with the dominant win.

Gotta Have Her, ridden by Tyler Baze, was a gutsy second, while Cannonball edged Delta Storm for third.

The victory was redemption for Koriner and California Flag, who set a blistering pace last year but faded to 10th.

"This time we used our heads," Koriner said, adding that a training incident this week, when California Flag tossed his rider to get loose on the track hadn't affected the 5-year-old.

"I thought that might have got him a little bit on edge but the horse has been training super. I didn't think much would affect him and thankfully it didn't."

Baze was delighted with Gotta Have Her's performance in a tough trip.

"She ran awesome, considering the trip we had. Nobody stayed straight down the lane. I had to alter course three times and she should have won for fun. She was unlucky, that's all. I was the best horse.

In an earlier race, Pounced, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, won the one million-dollar Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

Dettori guided Pounced through a gap in the final straight, surging past pacesetter Bridgetown to win the one mile race for two-year-old colts and geldings.

"He fought really hard for me," said Dettori, who delighted the California crowd with his flying dismount.

"I was worried about getting clear, but the gap was big enough for me to go through and my horse was very brave."

Bridgetown, trained by Kenneth McPeek and ridden by Robert Landry, was second and Interactif, trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, was third.

It was Gosden's second straight victory in the Juvenile Turf, after a triumph with Donativum here last year to go with his 2008 Classic triumph with Raven's Pass.

"Its fantastic to win this race for the second straight year and to do it at Santa Anita, my second home," said Gosden, who trained here from 1979-1988.

Landry said his mount simply had no answer when Dettori pounced.

"When I asked at the top of the lane, he dropped his head and really dug in," Landry said. "That other horse just ran past him."

The Jeremy Noseda-trained Awesome Act was fourth in the 12-horse field.