As anticipated, interest from horsemen for the Nov. 3 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) is high, with 25 pre-entries. At the time of final entries Oct. 30, a capacity field of 14 is in place to contest the one-mile race, plus four also-eligibles.
Another non-surprising fact is that the $1 million two-turn race at Santa Anita Park is shaping up as an international affair, as has been the case in years past.
Top American horses in the field include Rigney Racing’s homebred Buchu , a daughter of Justify , and Lael Stables’ She Feels Pretty . Both are winners of Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In events, the Jessamine Stakes (G2T) and Natalma Stakes (G1T), respectively.
Another notable contender, who earned her Win and You’re In berth in the Miss Grillo Stakes (G2T), is Hard to Justify from the barn of Chad Brown, who holds the most wins (five) in this race.
EURO SNAPSHOT
The European contingent includes Porta Fortuna , winner of the Sept. 30 Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) at Newmarket. Her trainer, Donnacha O’Brien, a son of Aidan O’Brien, is looking for his first Breeders’ Cup win with his first Breeders’ Cup starter as a trainer. He had two unplaced finishes in 2016, including the 11th-placed Intricately in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, as a jockey. Should Porta Fortuna win, O’Brien, 25, would become the youngest trainer of a Breeders’ Cup winner, a record currently held by his older brother, Joseph.
Aidan O’Brien, who won this race last year with Meditate , entered Content, a group 3 winner in her previous start. With regard to Content, O’Brien said, “We always rated her highly, a very well-bred Galileo filly. We think the race will suit her well.”
HOME TEAM
Phil Bauer, seeking his initial Breeders’ Cup victory after saddling Xigera to a last-place finish in this race in 2022, trains Buchu, the 3 3/4-length, off-the-pace winner of the Oct. 6 Jessamine at Keeneland. She had earned her maiden in her prior start two weeks earlier at Churchill Downs while racing just off the pace.
“Her finish, whether it be coming off the pace or laying close, she’s been able to punch,” Bauer remarked. “It’s exciting that she can do either. She’s a kind filly that will listen to her rider. She’s always given us a lot of confidence in the way she has trained.”
The plan trainer Cherie DeVaux had for She Feels Pretty, a daughter of Karakontie , was not originally the Sept. 16 Natalma at Woodbine. The filly, who won her debut sprinting on the turf July 16 at Ellis Park, was entered to run in the P. G. Johnson Stakes Aug. 30 at Saratoga Race Course, but it was rained off, and she scratched. DeVaux, amid a career-best season in her sixth year of training, found that Plan B was just the ticket after the filly roared to a 4 1/4-length victory in Canada.
“She’s always been forward and impressive in her works, and has been quite mature mentally. She was training excellent going into the Natalma, but we really didn’t know too much about her after her lone start at Ellis,” commented DeVaux, who is looking for her first win at the World Championships after finishing third with Tarabi in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). “There were a lot of unknowns that she answered for us in the Natalma. She has handled everything that we have thrown at her.”
