Fun and Feisty rides a two-race win streak into Friday’s $500,000 Alcibiades S. (G1), the juvenile filly fixture which headlines Friday’s opening of the Keeneland fall meet.
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One of three Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” preps on the card, the Alcibiades also offers qualifying points of 10-4-3-2-1 for the 2023 Kentucky Oaks (G1) to the respective top five finishers.
After dropping her first two starts, Fun and Feisty has found her best stride of late by posting two minor upsets at Churchill Downs. The first was in a maiden on the special Aug. 14 card, which was followed by a 3 1/2-length romp in last month’s Pocahontas (G3) after rallying from near the back.
Fun and Feisty will need some luck to pull off a similar rally with 13 Alcibiades rivals and a short stretch to work with going 1 1/16 miles. Four of the others exit the Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga, led by runner-up Wonder Wheel. The Into Mischief filly, who had previously won the Debutante S. at Churchill, finished a clear second ahead of Kaling, with Sabra Tuff and Just Cindy farther back. Just Cindy, from the first crop of Justify, previously captured the Schuylerville (G3).
A pair of fillies that have concentrated on turf so far will test their versatility. Chop Chop, from the first crop of City of Light, won a stretch duel over Towhead in the Juvenile Fillies S. at Kentucky Downs last out and is 2-for-2 for Brad Cox. Xigera, meanwhile, improved off her second-place finish in her debut to beat maiden foes over the Saratoga lawn by 5 3/4 lengths in late August.
Also stepping up in class off a maiden win is the Chad Brown-trained Raging Sea, who won by a neck going seven furlongs at Saratoga. The regally-bred filly figures to appreciate two turns, being a daughter of Curlin and a descendant of Broodmare of the Year Weekend Surprise.
