Friday’s $1,840,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies turned into a bit of a stagger fest over a slow-playing Santa Anita main track, but it was just right for British Idiom, who wore down the favored Donna Veloce to win the 1 1/16-mile fixture by a neck for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Javier Castellano.
RELATED: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Transcript
Less than six lengths behind a contested pace set by Two Sixty, with Bast and Wicked Whisper not far behind, British Idiom began to eat away at that deficit into the far turn as the top three began to back out. Taking first crack at them was 2-1 choice Donna Veloce, who had rated nicely in fourth and seized control with two furlongs to go.
Donna Veloce held a half-length advantage with a furlong to go, but the second-time starter with only a six-furlong maiden win to her credit couldn’t quite fend off the slightly more seasoned British Idiom, who virtually clinched champion two-year-old filly honors with the narrow decision. The final time was a pokey 1:47.07 over a fast track.
“It was pretty rough in the first turn,” Castellano said. “We bounced around a little bit. That was not the idea. The idea was a clear trip and stalking a little bit early. Unfortunately, that’s the way it developed in the first turn. I took it from there and was very patient and confident because I had the best horse in the race. That’s what she proved in the last part of the running. She kept running in a nice way and she finished really well.”
“I’m not so sure she liked the racetrack,” Cox said. “It looked like she was struggling a bit to me down the backside.
“She was fit. She was ready to go today. She’s been touting us the last few weeks and I’m very proud of her.”
Owned by Michael Dubb, Stuart Grant’s The Elkstone Group, Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables, and Bethlehem Stables, British Idiom paid $7.40 as the 5-2 second choice. Bast was 1 3/4 lengths behind in third, with Perfect Alibi the same margin back in fourth.
A 2020 Road to the Kentucky Oaks series prep, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies awarded qualifying points of 20-8-4-2 to the top four finishers. British Idiom has now earned 30 points, Donna Veloce eight, Bast 14, and Perfect Alibi six.
British Idiom goes to winter quarters undefeated from three starts. Successful in a restricted maiden at Saratoga by 3 1/2 lengths going six furlongs in mid-August, she was withdrawn from the Pocahontas (G2) at Churchill Downs the following month but reappeared in the Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland in early October, which she dominated by 6 1/2 lengths in her two-turn debut.
By Flashback and out of the multiple stakes-winning Rose and Shine, by Mr. Sekiguchi, British Idiom is a half-sister to the stakes-winning Parade of Roses. She was a $40,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling purchase.
