She’s lost only once in her career and is three-for-three over the Keeneland turf, but Rushing Fall will be put to a new test in Saturday’s $350,000 Jenny Wiley (G1).
For the daughter of More Than Ready, who captured the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) and concluded her campaign with a score in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1), the Jenny Wiley marks her first start against older fillies and mares. Unsurprisingly for a Grade 1 grass race, the most serious challenges to the Chad Brown trainee figure to come from her own stablemates.
Multiple graded stakes winner Rymska returned to top form last month when taking the Hillsborough (G2) at Tampa Bay Downs by two lengths, ending a two-loss streak. Losing a photo for second in the Hillsborough was stablemate Onthemoonagain, who was making her first start since a second-place finish in the Flower Bowl (G1) in October.
Five others are in the Jenny Wiley, but only Bellavais might have the sufficient current class and form to surprise the above trio. The Tapit mare is two-for-four since joining the Todd Pletcher stable, and was most recent third in the Honey Fox (G3) after falling farther off the pace than usual.
In other stakes action, Flameaway heads a field of 11 in the $200,000 Ben Ali (G3) for older horses over 1 1/8 miles. The field also includes fellow 2018 Kentucky Derby (G1) veteran Solomini, a recent Santa Anita Park allowance winner for Bob Baffert.
California invader Surrender Now will seek her first stakes win in the $100,000 Giant’s Causeway, a 5 1/2-furlong turf dash for fillies and mares. The Peter Miller trainee went two-for-two on turf against allowance foes last summer at Del Mar. Divisional mainstay Morticia finished third in last year’s edition of this race, while Mrs. Ramona G. appears well-spotted by trainer Jeremiah Englehart.
