Not long after Newspaperofrecord turned in a dominating effort on turf, Jaywalk threw her hat into the two-year-old filly championship debate as well as early Kentucky Oaks (G1) favoritism with a decisive score in the $1,806,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Churchill Downs on Friday.
Ridden by Joel Rosario, Jaywalk took early control to lead by a length through splits of :23.23, :46.76, and 1:11.48. Rivals like 19-10 favorite Bellafina, Vibrance, and Restless Rider each took runs at the long-time leader, but Jaywalk scooted away in upper stretch and won by 5 1/2 lengths in a time of 1:43.62 over a fast track.
“I was looking for a big effort from her, but I didn’t expect for her to go to the lead again,” trainer John Servis said. “I really thought there was enough speed in here that she’d probably be sitting off it a bit. But, Joel said when she left the gate, he knew right then she had running on her mind. And, he just took it from there. Once she got the front, she started flicking her ears and looked nice and relaxed.”
Owned by D. J. Stable and Cash is King, the daughter of Cross Traffic paid $13 as the 5-1 fourth choice. Restless Rider finished second, a half-length ahead of 35-1 outsider Vibrance. Bellafina was fourth.
Second in her debut at Monmouth Park in June, the gray Jaywalk romped to a 7 1/2-length maiden score at Parx second out, then captured the $50,000 White Clay Creek at Delaware Park. She preceded this win with a 5 3/4-length romp in the Frizette (G1) at Belmont Park.
Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds, Jaywalk was a $190,000 Keeneland September yearling buy. She’s out of the Orientate mare Lady Pewitt, who has also produced the multiple stakes-winning Danzatrice.
