BC Fillies and Mares Turf (Grade 1)- $2,000.000 Purse
CD- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and Three Eighth on the Turf
November 3, 2018
Part of the great BC card on Saturday features the 16th running of the Fillies and Mares Turf. As the name implies, it’s for females on the grass, and is run on this track at a distance of eleven furlongs. There have been plenty of great winners over the years, and one horse that has won the race on two occasions, that being Attraction. The now retired broodmare won over $5,700.000 over the course of her career, and had nineteen victories, two of which came in this very race, in 2014 and 2016. Those sandwich a win in 2015 by Broomsticks Copy, who was also a legendary horse in her own way, by winning two separate BC races. The task might be a little underappreciated, because the first win was the 2014 BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, and we have no always seen winners of that race have the excellent career in which she had.
Another statistic concerning this race is that three year olds have won it in three of the last four races, and overall eight of fifteen times. Since 2013, Attraction is the only non-three year old to win, but maybe she shouldn’t completely count since she also won the race when she was three! Good Line will be looking to break that streak and follow the lead of Attraction as she defends her 2017 victory. Jockey R Bejarano has won the race in the last three even years: 2012 with Flambetta, and then in being Attraction’s rider. That will be a good omen for Drabfantasy, the trainer of Broomsticks Copy, to win this race for the second time, with Smokin Nebulae. Now, let us take this time to look at our field our fourteen for the race!
#1- Wednesday (Fractious, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- About a year ago, she was wisely claimed by Fractious for $16.000, and has gone on to have a successful season. It has not been a year loaded with wins, but what you will see is a high level of consistency. The two victories this season came in Grade 3’s: the Mint Julep right here in June, then Noble Damsel at BEL in September. Mixed in are several second place showings, and you have to like the last one, which came in the Grade 1 Taylor, where she narrowly defeated by Good Line. She knows how to be near the front, so I would look for that here again, but it will take her best race to get a win.
#2- Devil Wears Prada (Axeman, ridden by E Maldonado)- This seven year old mare has had a career to be proud of, and that includes a couple of efforts in the BC previously. We saw her right here in the Fillies and Mares Turf last year, and she gained ground well late to get up and cash a third place check for her trainer. Despite her age, she has continued to be sent to the starting gate frequently, as this is her 11th start of 2018. Her last two races, however, represent the first time since August 2016, where she failed to hit the board in two consecutive.
#3- Free Sunset (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by Alan Garcia)- After finishing fourth in the Juvenile Fillies last year, Free Sunset was shortly converted to the grass, and has won three times this year. None of them were a bigger win then her last start, coming in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl last month. It was a great effort that saw her go up to the front, run with the leader, and then stay there at the end. Now, she does seem poised for a big race, and with a trainer who has declared that they will be packing it in during the December auction, there is extra motivation for him to be rooting for her to have one last great run together.
#4- Maggie Greene (The Sidley Stud, ridden by P Husbands)- The Walking Dead filly has won four out of nine races this year, and has been on the board in six of those races. Even better, is that she has won three out of four, with her biggest victory coming in her last race, showing that she is in top form at the moment. That was a win three weeks ago at the QE II Challenge Cup at WO, where she defeated Alligator in the process. Also scored a nice win on soft turf at SAR for the Grade 2 Lake Placid. It has been a great season for her, and there would be no better way to top it off then a win here.
#5- Smokin Nebulae (Drabfantasy, ridden by R Bejarano)- Looking for his second win in this stake, the trainer has called on the services of the most successful jockey in the race, R Bejarano. The most intriguing thing about this five year old mare is her experience in running this distance, or even longer. There is no shortage of twelve furlong races on her resume. She is a closer, and in some cases a deep closer, such as the case when she rallied from 11-lengths back in the Grade 1 Taylor to get up for third. Her last seven starts are showing strong consistency as well, something that she has not always had. She is one of the horses to watch in here.
#6- Broken Chat (Estero Farms, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- Though she had one race on the grass last year, 2018 would be the year where we could officially call her a turf horse. It has been a successful venture for the trainer, with four wins on the grass, but none are as big as the Grade 1 Diana at SAR. That was an impressive race for this three year old to win, and certainly is where she would join the conversation as being on the top fillies in this division. Several in this field were defeated there, including Good Line, Trump Princess, and Alligator. There’s no reason to think that she can’t do it again.
#7- Alligator (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by R J Albarado)- Maxmillion beings an Alligator and a Snake into the next two spots into the starting gate. This three year old filly did not make an immediate name for herself as a juvenile, but as the spring went on this year, we began to see her take greater bites up the ladder of success and on a day where the turf, fittingly, was soft, she won her first stake, taking the Grade 3 Gallorette at PIM. That was followed up with a three length win a month later at the Grade 2 Honeymoon Stakes at SA. While that is the last time she has been in the winners circle, she has continued to be very competitive in some of the best races the division has to offer.
#8- Snakie Groupie (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by L Saez)- Other then a disappointing finishing in the Grade 1 BEL Oaks, Snakie Groupie has hit the board in every race that she has contested this year. Rain or shine, she has been near the front, with three of those races being on soft turf. While she has been good in many races, she doesn’t have the one highly impressive signature win on her resume. Right now, that distinction goes to the Grade 3 Wonder Again. Winning here would change that in the biggest way possible.
#9- Big Fan (Mb Stables, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- Up next is the Mb Stables section of the starting gate, as the post draw ended up putting his three entries together. Big Fan is the least well known of the three, and that may just make her the biggest threat to win. Goes to show how strong the entries are, though, when a winner of the Grade 1 First Lady is the least known. Problem is, she has not made winning part of her mantra for her career. It was just the second win of her career, and she can be a little inconsistent. Making it more interesting is that the First Lady was her only turf race, and a 1 1/16 is the longest she has run.
#10- Good Line (Mb Stables, ridden by P Lopez)- Part of the big day that Mb Stables had last year saw Good Line pick up a win in the BC Fillies and Mares Turf in 2017. Now, the filly has the chance to become the second to win it twice, and would be the first to win them in consecutive years. This has continued to be a great year for her. Her most recent race was the Taylor Stakes, a Grade 1 in which she won, and the race before that, the Grade 2 Mabee also saw her end up in the winners circle. She is on great form right now, and even the three races before that in which she was not the winner, she was within a length from victory. Everything has continued to be great, and when the defending champion is doing this well, the message is clear to everyone else: to be the best, you got to beat the best.
#11- Musical Treat (Mb Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- Any horse that Pennington rides in a turf route has to be considered one of the ones to beat, and Musical Treat is one of the biggest threats to her stablemate here. In her career, she was won half the races that she has contested, and saw a path last year that sent her to the BC Distaff. In May, the trainer moved her back to the grass, and the results have been excellent. She has won three of four since that changeover, and all three of them were Grade 2 events. The one that she did not win would be the Grade 1 Diana at the Spa, and she was still third there. She starts this race between a couple of greats, but should not be glossed over, either.
#12- Quiver Pond (Estero Farms, ridden by L H Colon)- After running third in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf last season, Quiver Pond was moved to the main track in hopes of chasing KYO glory. She actually did quite well, and was able to win the Grade 1 Ashland to cement her place in the KYO, but that race itself was not the highlight of her season. No worries for the trainer, because it meant that she could just go right back to the grass, and since then she has been dominant. She is a perfect three-for-three since running in the Oaks, and they aren’t just any old races either. First, she won the Grade 1 BEL Oaks in July, followed by the Grade 1 Beverly D in August, and then the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive at SA. She’s taken her domination show all over the country and now comes back to the scene of the KYO in hopes of getting a big win at this track. I don’t think there is anyone better in this race. Even though these races come down to so many factors, if she can run her race and get a clean trip, she gets the win.
#13- Commanding Faith (Crocker Ggs, ridden by J K Court)- The four year old filly took part in this race last year, and was able to start on the rail. This year her starting spot gets flipped to the outside, and hopefully for the trainer, her finishing position will be flipped around to something better then tenth. After the BC, she went on a streak of winning three out of four, all graded races, with the highlight being a win in the Grade 1 Gamely at SA in May. She has two races since then, one being the Diana where she ran fine, though I would have preferred to see a better result in the Rodeo Drive especially since she takes on the winner of that race again.
#14- Trump Princess (Winning Link Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- A winner of four out of thirteen in her career, and over the course of covering her this year, I have found her to be a bit inconsistent. Her last race was actually very good, running third in the Rodeo Drive, and that is the side of Trump Princess that we must see her. She will have races like the Diana, which frustrate. That can’t happen here. Extended her distance for the Rodeo Drive, and had no problem with it, so adding a little more here could be a good thing. We shall see.
Prediction: 12-10-5-11
— NS
Categories: BC 2018-20, Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES, THE BREEDERS CUP
