Unmistakable class and uncommon versatility were hallmarks in a remarkable first season for Wonder Wheel. “She’s just a top filly,” her trainer, Mark Casse, said after the daughter of uber-sire Into Mischief capped a 4-for-5 year by rallying to win the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. “For her to overcome what she did, I think that just shows what a good horse she is.” Purchased at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale for $275,000 by the D J Stable of Leonard Green and family, Wonder Wheel began breezing for Casse at his Ocala farm in March. Shipped to Keeneland, then Churchill Downs, the dark bay filly made an auspicious debut on June 3, winning a 5 1/2-furlong maiden-special by 2 1/4 lengths. She then followed that with a front-running, 6 3/4-length score in the July 4 Debutante at Churchill. “That’s when we really knew we might have something,” said Casse. :: Full list of 2022 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories After staying put at Churchill for a few weeks, Wonder Wheel then joined up with Casse at Saratoga, where she made her next start on closing weekend of the summer meet, finishing second as the 7-5 favorite to Leave No Trace in the Grade 1 Spinaway in what would become the only blemish on her record to date. She then rebounded with a wire-to-wire triumph in her first two-turn race, the Grade 1 Alcibiades on opening day of the Keeneland fall meet, gamely holding off a late surge by Chop Chop in prevailing by a nose in a three-way photo in a full field of 14. Four weeks later came the coup de grace. Away just a bit tardily in a field of 13 in the Grade 1 BC Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland, Wonder Wheel found herself toward the rear of the pack into the first turn and all the way down the backstretch of the 1 1/16-mile race. Tyler Gaffalione, who rode the filly in all five starts, did not panic, as Wonder Wheel zipped past most of the field while saving ground in the final turn, suddenly producing herself for a winning drive. She drew off to win by three lengths, with Gaffalione mostly waving his whip at his mount down the lane, giving the jockey his first Breeders’ Cup victory after 35 failed attempts. “It means the world to me,” Gaffalione said afterward. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. Wonder Wheel was bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm and Clearsky Farms. By Into Mischief, once again the leading sire in North America in 2022, she was produced by Wonder Gal, a daughter of Tiz Wonderful. She finished the year with $1,550,725 in earnings for the Greens, who in 2018 won the Eclipse in this division with Jaywalk. After a short break following the Breeders’ Cup, Wonder Wheel has returned to training in Ocala, with “two or three preps, to be determined,” said Casse, ultimately aiming for the May 5 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.