Breeders’ Cup Preview: Juvenile Fillies & Filly and Mare Turf - October 30, 2013
The first two Breeders’ Cup races on Saturday at Santa Anita are for the girls with the Juvenile Fillies for two-year-olds and the Filly and Mare Turf for three-year-olds and upward. The first, and start of the pick-4, is the Juvenile Fillies.
The morning line favorite for the race and deservedly so is Sweet Reason, but she is not going to be the pick. That honor goes to Artemis Agrotera, who just defeated Sweet Reason in the Frizette at Belmont Park. The two have separated themselves from the other fillies in the country and it would not be a surprise to see them run one-two. The reason for Artemis Agrotera is that she has more speed than the favorite and drew well in post one.
Scandalous Act may be ignored on the board, but is worth a long look shipping west from Calder. She swept the Florida Stallion Series and is trying to replicate what Awesome Feather did in 2010 when she won the series in Calder before winning the Juvenile Fillies and Churchill Downs. She is a speed horse and there really is not a lot of speed in the race.
The best California horses are Secret Compass and She’s a Tiger who finished one-two in the Chandelier over the track in September. Visually; however, they need to pick it up. Untapable is worth including as is Rosalind. Not that Rosalind and Ria Antonia are the only two fillies to have races without the use of Lasix, but both ran with it in their last start. Rosalind is also trying to become the first filly in the last four runnings of the Juvenile Fillies on dirt to hit the board off a start on the Polytrack at Keeneland.
In the Filly and Mare Turf, the fillies that drew posts one through three may actually finish first, second and third.
Dank, winner of the Beverly D in her last start in August, is the 5-2 morning line favorite and if she runs back to that Beverly D, she wins for fun. Dank was a Group 2 winner in Ireland before coming to Arlington Park so the class has always been there.
Romantica makes her first start since mid September for trainer Andre Fabre, someone who does not run many in the U.S. It is said worldwide that when Fabre shows up to the races, his horses win. He was in attendance at Belmont Park in 2005 when Shirocco stunned the crown at big odds in the Turf. Romantica won the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at the distance of this race and is perhaps the best bred filly in the race. Her dam, Banks Hill, won the Filly and Mare Turf in 2001 and was second in the race in 2002. Banks Hill is also a full to Grade 1 winners Cacique, Champs Elysees, Dansili and Intercontinental, who won the Filly and Mare Turf in 2005.
The best U.S. runner looks to be Tiz Flirtatious, out of post three. The five-year-old California-bred mare has won her last two starts and four of her last five. She is coming off a win in the Rodeo Drive over the course and will be doing her best running late.
Laughing is the pace of the race, but that style does not fit the race profile. The last wire-to-wire winner of the Filly and Mare Turf was Intercontinental and in the last four Breeders’ Cups at Santa Anita, the pace-setter in the Filly and Mare Turf has been no better than fourth. She does; however, project to get an easy lead.
Qushchi is the bomber in the field running for the same trainer/jockey combination that upset the Filly and Mare Turf in 2010 with Shared Account. That year Shared Account finished fifth in the Flower Bowl while Qushchi just finished fourth in that same race. Laughing won this year’s Flower Bowl wire to wire.
Marketing Mix has won half of her 20 starts, but has lost her last two in the Rodeo Drive and Beverly D. She is a great mare, but may find one or two better on Saturday. She finished second in the race last year to Zagora.
Scheduled as race four on the card, post time for the Juvenile Fillies is 3:05 pm ET with the Filly and Mare Turf off at 3:43.
The morning line favorite for the race and deservedly so is Sweet Reason, but she is not going to be the pick. That honor goes to Artemis Agrotera, who just defeated Sweet Reason in the Frizette at Belmont Park. The two have separated themselves from the other fillies in the country and it would not be a surprise to see them run one-two. The reason for Artemis Agrotera is that she has more speed than the favorite and drew well in post one.
Scandalous Act may be ignored on the board, but is worth a long look shipping west from Calder. She swept the Florida Stallion Series and is trying to replicate what Awesome Feather did in 2010 when she won the series in Calder before winning the Juvenile Fillies and Churchill Downs. She is a speed horse and there really is not a lot of speed in the race.
The best California horses are Secret Compass and She’s a Tiger who finished one-two in the Chandelier over the track in September. Visually; however, they need to pick it up. Untapable is worth including as is Rosalind. Not that Rosalind and Ria Antonia are the only two fillies to have races without the use of Lasix, but both ran with it in their last start. Rosalind is also trying to become the first filly in the last four runnings of the Juvenile Fillies on dirt to hit the board off a start on the Polytrack at Keeneland.
In the Filly and Mare Turf, the fillies that drew posts one through three may actually finish first, second and third.
Dank, winner of the Beverly D in her last start in August, is the 5-2 morning line favorite and if she runs back to that Beverly D, she wins for fun. Dank was a Group 2 winner in Ireland before coming to Arlington Park so the class has always been there.
Romantica makes her first start since mid September for trainer Andre Fabre, someone who does not run many in the U.S. It is said worldwide that when Fabre shows up to the races, his horses win. He was in attendance at Belmont Park in 2005 when Shirocco stunned the crown at big odds in the Turf. Romantica won the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at the distance of this race and is perhaps the best bred filly in the race. Her dam, Banks Hill, won the Filly and Mare Turf in 2001 and was second in the race in 2002. Banks Hill is also a full to Grade 1 winners Cacique, Champs Elysees, Dansili and Intercontinental, who won the Filly and Mare Turf in 2005.
The best U.S. runner looks to be Tiz Flirtatious, out of post three. The five-year-old California-bred mare has won her last two starts and four of her last five. She is coming off a win in the Rodeo Drive over the course and will be doing her best running late.
Laughing is the pace of the race, but that style does not fit the race profile. The last wire-to-wire winner of the Filly and Mare Turf was Intercontinental and in the last four Breeders’ Cups at Santa Anita, the pace-setter in the Filly and Mare Turf has been no better than fourth. She does; however, project to get an easy lead.
Qushchi is the bomber in the field running for the same trainer/jockey combination that upset the Filly and Mare Turf in 2010 with Shared Account. That year Shared Account finished fifth in the Flower Bowl while Qushchi just finished fourth in that same race. Laughing won this year’s Flower Bowl wire to wire.
Marketing Mix has won half of her 20 starts, but has lost her last two in the Rodeo Drive and Beverly D. She is a great mare, but may find one or two better on Saturday. She finished second in the race last year to Zagora.
Scheduled as race four on the card, post time for the Juvenile Fillies is 3:05 pm ET with the Filly and Mare Turf off at 3:43.