November 27, 2024

Juvenile Fillies Preview

Last updated: 10/29/12 8:29 PM


JUVENILE FILLIES PREVIEW

The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies has produced the champion juvenile filly
in all 28 of its prior runnings. In 25 of those, the winner of the race was
honored with an Eclipse Award while the other three saw the eventual champion
finish in the top three.

This year’s edition should prove no different except for two major
differences: the ban of race-day Lasix in all Breeders’ Cup juvenile races and
the smallest field (since 2001 (9) 1995 (8)) (in the history of the race). But
don’t let the size of the field fool you, for what the race lacks in quantity it
makes up for in quality.

In an interesting twist, the past two winners of the Juvenile Fillies — My
Miss Aurelia and Awesome Feather — will be putting their perfect records on the
line later on Friday’s card in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic. Who knows what
the next two years will see from the winner of the 2012 running, but first we
have to get through this year’s 1 1/16-mile contest.

Of the eight entered in the race, three stand out immediately as not only
potential winners but good candidates for an Eclipse Award. Dreaming of Julia,
Executiveprivilege and Kauai Katie all boast unbeaten marks just like the
previous two champions. Dreaming of Julia and Kauai Katie also kind of put paid
to the idea of an East Coast bias against the Breeders’ Cup being run in
California for the next two years as both are based at trainer Todd Pletcher’s
New York base. The race will be a true test, though, as all entrants have been
competing with Lasix in their past few races.

Kauai Katie probably has the biggest question mark surrounding her due to the
fact that she’s not competed beyond 6 1/2 furlongs yet. However, the Malibu Moon
filly has romped in her three race thus far, beginning with a 12-length score in
a Saratoga maiden on July 20. Kauai Katie followed up with a 2 3/4-length win,
the smallest margin she’s recorded, in the Grade 2 Adirondack back at the Spa
meeting while going 6 1/2 furlongs. Pletcher then sent the bay miss up to
Belmont Park for that track’s Grade 2 Matron and Kauai Katie responded with a 7
1/2-length domination.

Dreaming of Julia had a much tougher time in her last race than her
stablemate. The Kentucky-bred lass captured her initial two outings by a
combined 26 3/4 lengths, but found herself battle tested in the Grade 1 Frizette
at Belmont on October 6.

The bay daughter of A.P. Indy hooked up with rival Happy Face in the stretch
and ran in tandem with that one before just getting her head in front on the
wire. Only three broke from the gate that day as Roveing Patrol got cast in the
stall, eventually forcing her and Sweet Shirley Mae’s scratch, so a few more
runners could see Dreaming of Julia returning to her prior form.

Executiveprivilege could end up favored when the gates open off her track and
distance score in the Grade 1 Chandelier. That race was run at the Juvenile
Fillies distance of 1 1/16 miles over Santa Anita’s main track.
Executiveprivilege had a big question mark herself entering the Chandelier, as
she had never tried a conventional dirt track before. The First Samurai filly’s
other four starts all came on synthetic tracks at Del Mar and Hollywood Park,
but the bay easily silenced all critics with a 6 1/4-length score.

Trained by Santa Anita’s leading trainer, Bob Baffert, Executiveprivilege has
also been training up a storm over the track and is the only filly in the field
boasting three graded wins having also taken the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante and
Grade 3 Sorrento.

Beholder is an interesting contender in the Juvenile Fillies. The Henny
Hughes miss ran well in her first three starts over synthetic tracks, breaking
her maiden by 3 1/4 lengths at Del Mar before just missing by a nose in the Del
Mar Debutante. In her most recent outing, the Richard Mandella pupil earned a
field-best 110 BRIS Speed rating when posting an 11-length score in a
six-furlong allowance at Santa Anita in her first try on a conventional dirt
track. Therein lies the problem, though.

Beholder has never competed beyond seven furlongs in her career and she’ll be
facing some fellow speedsters in this one that could burn her out on the front
end. Regardless, the bay filly has loads of talent and could be ready for a huge
effort in this spot. 

The rest of the Juvenile Fillies field appears to be made up of also-rans
with the exception of Spring in the Air. That Mark Casse-conditioned filly
captured the Grade 1 Alcibiades going 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland on October 5 in
her first try outside of her native Canada. The Spring at Last miss has never
tried a conventional dirt surface outside of training, but Animal Kingdom proved
with his Kentucky Derby win last year just how well some horses can handle all
three surfaces (dirt, synthetic and turf).