2021 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf: Audarya on course to defend title
While trainer James Fanshawe stopped just short of confirming it, all indications are Audarya will return to the U.S. to seek a repeat victory in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6.
“We’re very hopeful that she’ll make it,” Fanshawe said by phone from Newmarket on Tuesday. “She’s nice and bright. The climate is very different here than what it is at Del Mar, but she looks good in her coat. I just don’t want to confirm 100 percent until we really know for sure.”
Fanshawe said Audarya has one significant piece of work to do before pre-entries are due on Monday. Audarya is 0 for 4 this year, but three of those losses – including a fifth in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp on Oct. 3 – came over less-than-firm ground. Last year, the Keeneland turf was labeled firm for the Breeders’ Cup “and it was her best performance,” Fanshawe said.
Asked about the 1 3/8 miles of this year’s Filly and Mare Turf compared to last year’s 1 3/16 miles, Fanshawe said: “She outstayed them. That’s what won her the race.”
Though trainer Roger Varian won last Saturday’s British Champions Fillies and Mare Stakes with Eshaada, it is a different filly he is considering for the BC Filly and Mare Turf. Teona, who won the Group 1 Prix Vermeille at Longchamp in September, will be pre-entered for both the Filly and Mare Turf and the $4 million Turf at 1 1/2 miles. Teona was scratched from the Arc de Triomphe on Oct. 3 due to soft ground.
Stable manager Charlie Sutton, in an email, wrote Varian is leaning toward the Filly and Mare Turf with Teona.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien still has three under consideration for the Filly and Mare Turf, including Love, Mother Earth, and La Joconde.
Thundering Nights, who defeated Santa Barbara – a two-time Grade 1 winner in the U.S. – in the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes, is still being considered for the Breeders’ Cup, trainer Joseph O’Brien said this week. In June, Thundering Nights was beaten a nose by Mean Mary in the Grade 2 New York Stakes at Belmont Park.
One European-based runner no longer under consideration is La Petite Coco, who won the Group 2 Blandford Stakes at The Curragh but who missed the British Champions Fillies and Mares due to a twisted hock. Barry Irwin, the head of Team Valor International, which owns the 3-year-old Irish-bred filly, said La Petite Coco would be put away for the remainder of 2021.
Queen Supreme, who earned a berth into the BC Filly and Mare Turf by winning the Group 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes in South Africa in January, is still expected to come for the Breeders’ Cup.
Trainer Chad Brown said that Pocket Square, winner of the Grade 3 Athenia Stakes, would be pre-entered for the race. Trainer Phil D’Amato said a decision is still pending regarding Del Mar Oaks winner Going Global.
War Like Goddess, the likely Filly and Mare Turf favorite, was expected to work at Saratoga on Friday and then ship to California on Oct. 26.