Breeders’ Cup Distaff
A Mo Reay , scratched from the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), has been retired, trainer Brad Cox confirmed Saturday morning. The 4-year-old Uncle Mo filly, one of three entries in the Distaff for Cox, will enter quarantine and will be sent to Japan, the native country of owner Haruya Yoshida.
A Mo Reay retires with a record of 5-3-3 in 16 starts and $862,775 in earnings. Her biggest victory was the Beholder Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita in March.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
As Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher hoped, Repole Stables’ homebred Fierceness ran back to the form of his debut and not his outing in the Champagne Stakes (G1) to win the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on Friday.
Locked , the betting favorite, trained by Pletcher for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm, was third.
“We were extremely happy with the way Fierceness ran,” Pletcher said. “The race kind of unfolded the way we envisioned it would. We wanted to get involved and get to the first turn in good position, which he was able to do. Just a powerful performance.
“Locked got shuffled back a little more than we wanted and then got stuck inside. There was a lot of kickback. I thought once he kind of got into the clear down the lane he started closing pretty well. At that point, the race had kind of gotten away from him. He was a couple strides away from being second, but he just had too much to do at that point.”
In the Champagne (G1) on Oct. 7 at Aqueduct over a sloppy track, Fierceness ended up seventh, beaten 20 1/4 lengths. Pletcher and owner Mike Repole decided to enter him in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and he made it into the field without any stakes credentials.
“Even though the horse only had two starts, we were kind of looking at his entire body of work, which included a lot of impressive breezes leading up to his debut,” Pletcher said, “and a couple of good breezes after his debut leading up to the Champagne. The Champagne is just a head-scratcher. He came back and breezed really well. We said, ‘we know he showed he can do it in the mornings, we know he showed he can do it in his debut.’ It was a classic case like we said going in, we’re just going to draw a line through that race and try again.”
Pletcher said Fierceness and Locked will shipped back to Churchill Downs and then will go on to Palm Beach Downs to be prepared for their 3-year-old seasons.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
For your information, Just F Y I, is likely on her way to a championship following her neck victory in the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Friday.
The daughter of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify laid claim to that prize after running her record to three wins in as many tries. She finished her satisfying season with the Juvenile Fillies win, the first for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and jockey Junior Alvarado. Just F Y I is owned by George Krikorian.
“Her future is that she should be stamped champion 2-year-old filly,” Mott said Saturday morning as Just F Y I walked the shedrow at the barn.
Mott said the next destination for Just F Y I likely will be the Payson Park Thoroughbred Training Center in Florida where she will get time off before kicking off her 3-year-old campaign in 2024.
In the Juvenile Fillies, Alvarado and Just F Y I overcame post position 12 to score the win over Jody’s Pride.
“She actually showed a bit more early speed than I expected,” Mott said. “She put herself right up there, which was great.”
Just F Y I broke her maiden at Saratoga on Aug. 26 and then won the Frizette (G1) at Aqueduct on Oct. 7. Now the focus will be on the 3-year-old campaign.
“A lot of them don’t make the transition,” Mott said. “Hopefully, she is the type that will because she is a big, scopy filly and it looks like she has room to fill out and mature. She is still kind of a big string bean. But she is very athletic.”
Meanwhile, trainer Richard Mandella reported Saturday morning that his star 2-year-old filly Tamara emerged from her seventh-place finish in the NetJets Juvenile Fillies with a small knot on the back of her rear hind leg. “We’ll take a look at it and see what it is. That will determine whether we may need to give her a rest,” Mandella said. “I could see at the half-mile pole that she wasn’t running her race. I thought Mike (Smith) would have a tight hold on her.”
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf
Chad Brown’s record-extending sixth winner of the Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Wise Racing’s Hard To Justify , has exited her efforts in fine shape, per her conditioner.
“She’s great today. We will give her a little well-deserved rest and point toward a campaign in the spring,” Brown said.
International Report
A phenomenal day’s racing was enjoyed at Santa Anita Friday with the Europeans winning two Breeders’ Cup races.
Big Evs (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint) was arguably the star performance of the day under Tom Marquand.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet, it really is a dream come true,” trainer Michael Appleby said. “I’m still pinching myself. It was the best day of my career and I’m just so proud of all my team at home, Tom Marquand and Big Evs’ owners Rachael and Paul Teasdale.
“We’ll enjoy the amazing racing at Santa Anita today, but the most important thing is the horse is fine, so we’ll get him home and give him a well-deserved break.”
Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore have become a sensational force winning the Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf for the sixth time with Unquestionable .
“I’m delighted for everyone,” O’Brien said. “River Tiber (IRE) was withdrawn and I was gutted for the owners, while Dylan McMonagle’s horse Mountain Bear (IRE) ran a stormer.
“It’s very tough to win here, but I’m delighted for the lads as they put so much into it. It’s hard to explain because when things start bad like what happened with River Tiber as it usually goes down because there are a lot of areas you can’t control.
“Sometimes things fall for you and sometimes they don’t but Ryan gave him a beautiful ride.”
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
