The $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint is coming up soon and a lot of folks are eager to see it.

That is the case not only because the Juvenile Turf Sprint will officially kick off the 2018 Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs, but also because this race will provide us with our first real look at how the Churchill turf course took the heavy rain that prevailed in Louisville on Wednesday and Thursday.

Right now, the course is listed as "good." But some skeptics want to see if the going is really as good as that, or if all the recent rain did indeed create going that will favor European shippers who are more familiar with "off" turf.

European shippers might have an edge in this first running of the Juvenile Turf Sprint, anyway. European 2-year-olds specialize in turf sprints because that is largely the only option they have for starting their careers, while our 2-year-olds tend to gravitate to turf after moderate results on dirt.

Yours truly threw his lot in with European shippers in this race, picking Soldier's Call, Sergei Prokofiev, and So Perfect one-two-three. But honestly, this race seems to go through Soldier's Call, who moves back in with members of his own age group after competing against older horses (yes, older horses) in a Group 1 event at Longchamp most recently on the Arc undercard. But Soldier's Call did much more than merely compete. He finished third, beaten a head and a nose for all the money, while finishing ahead of 13 other opponents.

Soldier's Call was the second choice on the morning line at 9-2. However, he is the clear favorite right now in the double pool that goes into the Juvenile Turf Sprint.