Breeders' Cup Distaff: Field thins as Nitrogen, Full Subscribed emerge as standouts
:quality(75))
Nitrogen and Fully Subscribed seem to have scared a few more potential rivals out of the starting gate for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff later this month, as the connections for Counting Stars and Bodacious Bay both said they will not point their 3-year-old fillies toward the championship event.
Trainer Mark Casse, who trains both Nitrogen and Counting Stars, confirmed the decision to end his star 3-year-old’s campaign after the Grade 1 Spinster last Saturday. Though the two-time Grade 1 winner ran on valiantly in the three-horse field, she was no match for Fully Subscribed, who easily won her final Breeders’ Cup prep by 3 1/2 lengths for Chad Brown.
While Counting Stars gets “a well-deserved rest” before her 4-year-old campaign, Casse said the deep closer Measure will run alongside Nitrogen in the Distaff. The 3-year-old filly is coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx Racing, where she seemed to be traveling too short at 1 1/16 miles.
:: ON SALE NOW: DRF Breeders' Cup Packages! Get everything you need to win and save big.
Bodacious Bay, the surprise winner of the Cotillion, was always unlikely to run in the Distaff. Immediately after her breakthrough victory in Pennsylvania, Saffie Joseph Jr. said he saw no point in shipping to Keeneland to finish second behind Nitrogen. The trainer finalized his decision in a text message Monday evening.
Counting Stars and Bodacious Bay will join Always a Runner, the Kentucky Oaks winner, among 3-year-old fillies heading toward a break. Brown made the early decision to skip the Distaff with Always a Runner last month.
While Bodacious Bay will bow out for now, Joseph said Eunomia will run in the Distaff. The 4-year-old filly was expected to run in the Grade 3 Delaware Handicap last Saturday, but Joseph scratched her late in the day due to worsening track conditions. She has not run since Aug. 1, when she won the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar. She was originally expected to race on Sept. 26 at Delaware, but the race was postponed one week because of a nor’easter.
The track remained muddy at Delaware on Oct. 3, and with Eunomia out of the race, Regaled went largely unchallenged in her second straight victory in the Delaware Handicap, closing from last to win by three lengths. Last year, the Whit Beckman trainee won the Delaware Handicap before shipping to Del Mar and finishing third in the Distaff at 30-1.
The Delaware Handicap is not a Win and You’re In race for the Distaff but is instead part of the Dirt Dozen program. Regaled will receive a $30,000 credit for entry fees, and if Brad Cox chooses to take the trip with the Delaware Handicap runner-up Chasten, she will receive a $15,000 credit.
Splendora, the clear third choice behind Nitrogen and Fully Subscribed among the Distaff contenders, has been humming right along in training at Churchill Downs for Bob Baffert, completing a four-furlong workout in 47.80 seconds on Oct. 5. The 2025 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner has made three straight starts in Grade 2 stakes around two turns, winning all three by a combined 13 1/2 lengths.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.