From a tactical standpoint, trainer Steve Asmussen has all the bases covered in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Society likes to race close to the lead. In last year’s Filly and Mare Sprint, she battled for early supremacy before tiring to finish fourth. On the other hand, Zeitlos appears a true one-run closer, rallying from off the pace to win her last four dirt starts. They’ll challenge a talented field that includes Ways and Means, Sweet Azteca, Vahva, and Scylla. Five-time stakes winner Society, a 5-year-old mare by Gun Runner, has been managed carefully by design this year. She made her seasonal debut with a third-place effort, 1 1/2 lengths behind winning Vahva, in Churchill’s Grade 3 Chicago Stakes on June 22. She recently turned the tables on that rival with a strong 3 1/4-length victory in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Ballerina. Society received a 102 Beyer Speed Figure for that race. :: ON SALE NOW: DRF Breeders' Cup Packages! Get everything you need to win and save 41% off the retail price. “The reason she was put back in training was this,” Asmussen said about the Filly and Mare Sprint. “Specific races off of a nice break,” was how he described her two preps, noting that both were contested over the same seven-furlong distance as the Filly and Mare Sprint. Asmussen feels that Society is training “very impressively” coming into her third Breeders’ Cup appearance. She finished seventh when stretched to 1 1/8 miles in the 2022 Distaff at Keeneland. Millionaire Zeitlos earned her first graded victory, kicking from last to win the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America on Oct. 5 at Keeneland. “It appeared she overcame the [speed] bias,” Asmussen said. Asmussen noted Zeitlos’s development and added maturity in 2024. “It’s just another amazing Curlin older mare,” he said. Zeitlos might receive the right race flow at Del Mar. “It’s the scenario where the main fillies have so much pace that if they overdo it, she may be the beneficiary,” Asmussen said. :: BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY AND MARE SPRINT: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more When the Breeders’ Cup is contested in California, Asmussen likes to ship his charges early. That will be the case again this year, with his horses heading out on Tuesday. “Whenever they let us in Del Mar,” Asmussen joked. ◗ Pandora’s Gift, second in the Grade 2 Presque Isle Masters on Tapeta and third in Keeneland’s Grade 2 Franklin on turf, is being considered for both the Filly and Mare Sprint and Turf Sprint. The Filly and Mare Sprint would be her first dirt start. ◗ Vahva breezed five furlongs in 59.60 seconds in company with Breeders’ Cup Classic contender Pyrenees on Oct. 12. The clocker notes on Keeneland’s website noted the pair were “impressive together, finishing heads apart.” ◗ Ways and Means, the potential favorite, recorded her first workout since winning the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom, breezing a half-mile in 48.70 last Sunday. ◗ Despite a lackluster final prep race, Sweet Azteca appears on course for the Filly and Mare Sprint. Trainer Michael McCarthy mentioned unseasonably warm temperatures might have contributed to Sweet Azteca’s fourth-place finish as the heavy favorite in Santa Anita’s Grade 3 Chillingworth on Oct. 5. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.