2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Cairo Memories surprisingly perfect
Almost by accident, Cairo Memories will take an undefeated record into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 5.
Cairo Memories has won twice in one-mile turf races – a maiden special weight race by 4 1/2 lengths at Del Mar on Sept. 5 and her stakes debut in the Surfer Girl Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths at Santa Anita on Sunday.
The maiden race win was a delightful surprise to trainer Bob Hess Jr., who said Cairo Memories was not completely prepared for her debut on the final weekend of the Del Mar summer meeting.
“Sometimes at the end of Del Mar, you run a work or two short,” Hess said. “I knew she wasn’t ready.”
Prior to the maiden win, Cairo Memories was ridden in a workout by Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, who urged Hess to start the filly.
“He said, ‘I think she’s talented enough to pick up a check,’ ” Hess said. “She won in spite of my training.”
In the Surfer Girl Stakes, a poised Cairo Memories closed from fourth of 11 in the final half-mile under Desormeaux to win by 2 1/4 lengths over Helens Well, another candidate for the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“This race, she was 100 percent,” Hess said. “What I love is that her body language and her physical and mental expression after the race made it seem like she enjoyed the experience.”
Cairo Memories, by Cairo Prince, was purchased for $50,000 as a yearling and races for Schroeder Farms and David Bernsen. While Cairo Memories progressed from the maiden race win to the Surfer Girl Stakes, Hess knows she must be even better against an international field at Del Mar.
“If everything goes the way it seems to be going, we’ll target” the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, he said. “If she continues to improve, we’ll take a swing.”
The list of candidates is led by the Europeans Tenebrism, who won the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket on Sept. 25, and Wild Beauty, who won the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine on Sept. 19 and is entered in Friday’s Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket, England.
The New York-based Sail By joined the list of probable starters after a win in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont Park on Saturday, beating the well-regarded Kinchen by a length.
Aside from the Fillies’ Mile, the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 13 is the final major prep for the Juvenile Fillies Turf. The Fillies’ Mile is led by the undefeated Inspiral, a winner of three races, including two stakes, for trainers John and Thady Gosden.
The winner of the $200,000 Jessamine receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Last year, Aunt Pearl won the Jessamine and the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf for trainer Brad Cox, who this year is expected to start Turnerloose, the winner of the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies on Sept. 6.