ESPN Horse Racing

Updated: September 24, 2008, 3:13 PM ET

Breeders' Cup Fan Fantasy: The Sprint

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By Jeremy Plonk
Special to ESPN.com
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ESPN.com has challenged eight racing experts to match wits in the first Breeders' Cup Fan Fantasy game, where your votes will determine the greatest Breeders' Cup World Championships victors of all time. Over a five-week span, the expert panel's eight greatest champions in the Mile, Sprint, Ladies Classic (formerly the Distaff), Turf and Classic will be unveiled. Each week, the voting will be opened to ESPN.com readers, who will cast their ballots for the greatest champion in each division.

We'll keep a tally of how the expert stables are doing, provide a look at each of the weekly divisional contenders and provide the voting results in the next week's BC Fan Fantasy column.

Last Week's Breeders' Cup Fan Fantasy Mile Results:

The experts had the Mile pegged, as the top three choices in our mock draft were voted win, place and show runners, respectively, for the all-time Mile. Lure captured 36.5 percent of the vote, followed by Miesque (32.7) and Da Hoss (22.8). That gives Horseplayerpro.com's Joe Kristufek five points, Gary West of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram three points and Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman two points in our Fan Fantasy expert stable challenge after week one of five.

Breeders' Cup Fan Fantasy Mile
Win  Lure, 36.5% (Joe Kristufek, Horseplayerpro.com, 5 points)
Place  Miesque, 32.7% (Gary West, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 points)
Show  Da Hoss, 22.8% (Jay Privman, Daily Racing Form, 2 points)

The draft order was reversed for the expert stables prior to this week's Breeders' Cup Fan Fantasy Sprint draw, and here's how it shook out:

First choice: Jon White, HRTV.
Second choice: Trevor Denman, ESPN's voice of the Breeders' Cup.
Third choice: Simon Bray, TVG.
Fourth choice: Jeremy Plonk, ESPN.com.
Fifth choice: Ed Fountaine, New York Post.
Sixth choice: Jay Privman, Daily Racing Form.
Seventh choice: Gary West, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Eighth choice: Joe Kristufek, Horseplayerpro.com.

Breeders' Cup Fan Fantasy All-Time Sprint Field (alphabetical):

Artax

Bio Blast: Selected sixth in our expert draft by Jay Privman, Artax ran the second-fastest Breeders' Cup Sprint ever (then a record) when zipping 1:07.89 at Gulfstream Park in 1989 & Among those he defeated were eventual 1990 Sprint champion Kona Gold and the 3-year-old Forestry & In addition to winning the Sprint, the '98 Kentucky Derby alumnus won the G2 San Felipe routing and the G1 Vosburgh and G1 Carter in the sprint ranks ... Originally trained in California by Randy Bradshaw, he was moved to New York and handled by Louis Albertrani during his title season ... Jorge Chavez rode him to Breeders' Cup glory.

Cherokee Run

Bio Blast: Selected third in our expert draft by Simon Bray, Cherokee Run is the only horse ever to place in a Triple Crown event and also win the Breeders' Cup Sprint, finishing second in the 1993 Preakness prior to shortening his game to win the '94 Sprint ... Defeated the filly Soviet Problem, 1993 Sprint champ Cardmania, world record holder Honor The Hero and British import Lochsong in his thrilling Breeders' Cup run, scoring by a head, still the second-closest finish in the event's history ... In addition to his Sprint victory, Cherokee Run won four more graded stakes races in his career, topped by the G2 De Francis Dash and G2 Dwyer & Based in New York with trainer Frank Alexander, he was ridden to Sprint riches by Mike Smith.

Kona Gold

Bio Blast: The only horse to make five career Breeders' Cup appearances in the same division, Kona Gold was a Sprint fixture from 1998-2002, finishing third, second, first, seventh and fourth in his attempts & Selected fourth in our expert draft by Jeremy Plonk, Kona Gold ran what remains the fastest Sprint in history in 2000 when he sizzled six furlongs in 1:07.77 at Churchill Downs ... His half-length Sprint runner-up came in Artax's '99 victory, which at the time was the BC Sprint record of 1:07.89 & In addition to his Breeders' Cup trophy, Kona Gold also annexed nine other graded stakes in his career, topped by the G1 San Carlos and back-to-back editions of the G2 Bing Crosby at Del Mar & Based in Southern California, the Bruce Headley trainee was partnered with jockey Alex Solis throughout his entire Breeders' Cup career.

Midnight Lute

Bio Blast: Selected second in our expert draft by Trevor Denman, Midnight Lute scored the biggest blowout victory in Sprint history when capturing the 2007 renewal at Monmouth by 4-1/2 widening lengths ... Among those in his sloppy-track wake were Commentator, Benny The Bull and Bordonaro & Scored the Sprint in just his 10th career start, the most lightly raced winner of this event since Reraise in 1998 & Sprint success came in his first attempt at the six-furlong distance in more than 15 months & In addition to his Breeders' Cup victory, Midnight Lute also is a two-time graded stakes winner (as of press time), capturing the G1 Forego and G3 Perryville & Based in Southern California, the active 5-year-old colt is trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Garrett Gomez.

Orientate

Bio Blast: Selected eighth in our expert draft by Joe Kristufek, Orientate became the 17th of what is now a record 18 career Breeders' Cup winners saddled by D. Wayne Lukas, surging late to score a half-length win as the favorite at Arlington in 2002 ... Among those he defeated were 2000 Sprint victor Kona Gold and the filly Xtra Heat & The Sprint marked his fifth consecutive victory to close his career & In addition to the Sprint, Orientate registered four more graded stakes in his title season, headed by the G1 Forego and G2 Vanderbilt at Saratoga & At age three, he won the Indiana Derby around two turns & Based in Kentucky and New York, the Lukas trainee was ridden to Breeders' Cup success by Jerry Bailey.

Precisionist

Bio Blast: Selected first in our expert draft by Jon White, Precisionist epitomized versatility in his four Breeders' Cup appearances, twice contesting the Sprint and twice the Classic ... His '85 Sprint win over reigning Sprint champion Smile and Mt. Livermore came in his first six-furlong attempt in nearly two years & In 1988, at the age of 7, he returned to the Sprint and finished fifth to Gulch, beaten just over two lengths & In-between, he finished third in Skywalker's 1986 Classic run &In addition to his Sprint victory, Precisionist was a 12-time graded stakes winner of such events as the G1 Woodward, G1 Strub, G1 San Fernando and G1 Swaps ... Based in Southern California, he was trained by Leonard Fenstermaker and ridden by Chris McCarron in his '85 tally ... John Russell trained him in his 1988 swan song.

Smile

Bio Blast: Selected seventh in our expert draft by Gary West, Smile avenged his narrow 1985 runner-up Sprint finish a year later when essentially dashing wire-to-wire over the filly Pine Tree Lane and heavily favored Groovy ... His time of 1:08-2/5 would share the mark as the fastest BC Sprint until Thirty Slews ran 1:08-1/5 in 1992 & In addition to the Sprint, Smile was a three-time graded stakes winner with distance versatility, capturing the G1 Arlington Classic and G3 Equipoise Mile & At age two, he was unbeaten in five starts, sweeping the Florida Stallion Series &Trained by Scotty Schulhofer, the Florida and New York-based Smile was ridden by Jacinto Vasquez.

Very Subtle

Bio Blast: Selected fifth in our expert draft by Ed Fountaine, Very Subtle blazed the trail as the first of what is now three fillies to best the boys in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (Safely Kept and Desert Stormer since have joined the list) & Her 1987 Sprint score came over a field that included odds-on favorite Groovy and world record holder Zany Tactics & The dominant, four-length win margin would stand for 20 years as the biggest blowout in race history, eclipsed last fall by Midnight Lute's 4-1/4 length score & In addition to the Sprint, Very Subtle won eight more graded stakes from ages two through five, including the G1 Hollywood Starlet, G1 Fantasy and G2 Test & Based in Southern California, she was trained by Mel Stute and ridden by Patrick Valenzuela.

Jeremy Plonk has been an ESPN.com contributor since 2000. You can E-mail Jeremy about this topic or anything racing-related at Jeremy@Horseplayerpro.com.