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Race No. 2 -- The Century Dream Juvenile Fillies (1 1/16M)

By Paul Buckley

With the crowd still buzzing over the stirring stretch run of The Sprint, 14 of Thoroughbred racing's most precocious two-year-old fillies, seemingly unaffected by the din, head postward to do battle. Here's the field of debutantes in post position order:

Following are race records (two-year-old and lifetime) for each horse, as well as notable accomplishments and other tidbits:

Now, for the race:

BEWITCH is quickest out of the gate from post 13, maintaining a neck advantage over RUFFIAN, with AFFECTIONATELY sandwiched between them in third as that trio passes the first quarter in an honest :22 4/5. LANDALUCE settles into stride just off AFFECTIONATELY's inside flank, while FLANDERS hugs the rail around the clubhouse turn in fifth. TOP FLIGHT tracks LANDALUCE from midpack, as COUNTESS DIANA negotiates the first turn a bit wide and LA PREVOYANTE saves ground in pursuit of FLANDERS. SILVERBULLETDAY gets caught widest of all on the turn, and Eddie Delahoussaye, breaking from the extreme outside aboard IT'S IN THE AIR, takes a firm hold of his mount and maneuvers toward the rail. MOCCASIN, NUMBERED ACCOUNT, MEADOW STAR and PHONE CHATTER trail the field in that order.

The leaders arrive at the half-mile mark in a sprightly :45 4/5, with BEWITCH maintaining her slim lead over RUFFIAN and AFFECTIONATELY. LANDALUCE, FLANDERS and TOP FLIGHT hold their stalking positions, while LA PREVOYANTE remains stuck on the rail behind FLANDERS. The rest of the field is tightly bunched within five to seven lengths of the pacesetters down the backside, and it appears to be anyone's race at this point. As they head into the far turn, however, RUFFIAN is able to wrest the lead from BEWITCH, and AFFECTIONATELY moves into second. IT'S IN THE AIR and SILVERBULLETDAY gear up on the outside to join the stalkers, and MOCCASIN, NUMBERED ACCOUNT and MEADOW STAR launch their bids from the back of the pack.

After accomplishing the first six furlongs in a taxing 1:09 4/5, the great RUFFIAN leaves a weakened AFFECTIONATELY and a fading BEWITCH in her wake, and moves out to a two-length lead at the top of the stretch. LANDALUCE now looms boldly as she is asked for her best by Laffit Pincay, and TOP FLIGHT follows her into third as Sonny Workman guides his determined filly to a clear path on the outside. FLANDERS battles on gamely from the rail but is not able to close on the leaders. MOCCASIN and NUMBERED ACCOUNT weave their way through traffic into fifth and sixth, respectively, but still have some work to do. SILVERBULLETDAY and MEADOW STAR are passing tired horses but running out of real estate.

RUFFIAN passes the sixteenth pole in 1:35 2/5 with a length advantage over LANDALUCE and TOP FLIGHT, but it is TOP FLIGHT who is mounting the most serious challenge as she cuts into RUFFIAN's lead with every stride. Those two are on even terms a few jumps from the wire, but in the end, it's ... TOP FLIGHT, whose final surge carries her to a neck victory in a time of 1:42.

Following is the complete order of finish:

More Century Dream Series:

Mile

Turf

Distaff

Sprint

Juvenile

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