BC Juvenile Fillies

Folklore (right) held off the fast closing Wild Fit to take the Juvenile Fillies (Uli Seit/Horsephotos.com)

Bob & Beverly Lewis’ FOLKLORE (Tiznow) came into Saturday’s $1.06 million

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) with a legacy to live up to. Her sire
became the first back-to-back winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), with the
second victory coming when Belmont Park last hosted Thoroughbred racing’s
championship day in 2001. The D. Wayne Lukas-trained miss had a jockey who was
seeking his first Breeders’ Cup win in his 42nd try and a tough rival in Adieu
(El Corredor), who had come out on top in two of their three meetings. But when
the gates opened, Folklore just did what came natural. She ran.

Hooking up with Knights Templar (Exploit) from the start, Folklore and jockey
Edgar Prado at first fought for the lead, but soon settled into second as
Knights Templar grabbed the lead through a half in :45 1/5. Adieu wasn’t far
back, tracking in third along the rail, but never seemed to get into the race
and started backing up early on in the backstretch. Neither Folklore nor Knights
Templar paid her any notice, continuing on through six furlongs in 1:10 1/5.

Heading into the turn, Prado shook the reins at Folklore and the two-year-old
lass began her run. As the rest of the field came into the stretch, the only
remaining question was how large the margin of victory was going to be. But
suddenly, Wild Fit (Wild Wonder) broke through from between horses and started
making up ground. After racing in last and getting caught in traffic around the
turf and in the stretch, Wild Fit put in a game rally but just ran out of room
as Folklore crossed under the wire 1 1/4 lengths in front. The winner stopped
the clock in 1:43 4/5 for 1 1/16 miles on the fast dirt.

Folklore stayed near the front throughout en route to her Breeders’ Cup win (Uli Seit/Horsephotos.com)

“It means a lot,” he said. “I give thanks to my family and friends in
Maryland and New York. Thanks to them, I am what I am.”

Sent off the 2-1 favorite, Folklore paid $6.70, $4.20 and $2.70 while keying
the $54.50 exacta and $181.50 trifecta. Wild Fit was easily second best in the
field, returning $6.40 and $4.30 at 7-1 for finishing 4 3/4 lengths in front of
Original Spin (Distorted Humor), who was worth $3.70. Ex Caelis (Fusaichi
Pegasus) completed the 1-10-2-9 superfecta that gave back $1,762 and was
followed by Sensation (Dixie Union), Knights Templar, Adieu, Along the Sea
(Anees), She Says It Best (Stormy Atlantic) and Diamond Omi (Giant’s Causeway).

Folklore is the first registered foal out of the unraced Contrive (Storm
Cat), who is also the dam of a yearling colt by Orientate and a Silver Charm
weanling filly. Bred by her owners in Kentucky, Folklore adds the Juvenile
Fillies to a record that already includes scores in the Matron S. (G1) and
Adirondack S. (G2). She’s also placed second in the Spinaway S. (G2) and Astoria
S., and now posts a 7-4-3-0 mark with $927,500 in earnings.