DEL MAR, Calif. - Pandora’s Gift was scratched from Saturday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint after she was sold at Wednesday night’s inaugural Keeneland Championship sale, held in the Del Mar paddock.
Pandora’s Gift was purchased for $850,000 by LSU Stables and will be turned over to trainer Christophe Clement. She was previously owned and trained by Stuart Williams.
Miguel Clement, son of and assistant to his father Christophe, said the new owners were not interested in running a turf horse on dirt in the Filly and Mare Sprint. Pandora’s Gift, a 5-year-old daughter of Churchill had been pre-entered in the Turf Sprint as well, but did not draw into that race from the preference list.
“This was not their first preference, this was their second preference race, she never ran on dirt, she’s a typical turf European filly,” Miguel Clement said.
For Williams, Pandora’s Gift went 4 or 10 between Europe and the U.S. In two U.S. starts, she finished second in the Presque Isle Masters over the synthetic surface at Presque Isle Downs and third in the Grade 2 Franklin Stakes on turf at Keeneland.
Miguel Clement said Pandora’s Gift would get a break at a yet-to-be-determined farm, before joining the Clement’s winter stable at Payson Park in Florida.
A Breeders’ Cup official said that Williams had to be the one to officially withdraw Pandora’s Gift from the race, which he did. That official said that Williams would get the pre-entry and entry fees refunded.
Barring any more scratches, the Filly and Mare Sprint will go with a field of nine headed by Ways and Means, Society, Scylla, and Vahva.
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