Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf: Blue Bolt out to prove she can get added ground
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Blue Bolt has been brilliant and unbeatable going a mile in Europe this year, scoring four Group 1 victories in three countries.
The 4-year-old filly comes to America taking on a new challenge in company and distance when she runs in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf going 1 3/16 miles at Keeneland. Blue Bolt had also been pre-entered in the $2 million Mile, which would have meant taking on males.
“There are horses we’ve beaten in the Filly and Mare before that we felt we could beat again,” trainer Andrew Balding said. “Obviously, going in the Mile would have opened up questions. It was either step up in trip or take on a stronger race, potentially.”
Blue Bolt is 6 for 6 this year, running – and winning – one race a month since May, over five different courses.
“She’s had a long season, like a lot of these horses, that’s always the concern, the end of a long season and the travel,” Balding said. “We felt she was strong at the end of her races, another furlong and a half, particularly on a two-turn track would be within her compass. I’d be more concerned with the sort of length she’s been on the go than the distance.”
Balding said he would prefer to have drawn further inside than post 12, but said jockey Colin Keane “will work it out and get her in the best position.”
Blue Bolt is owned by Juddmonte, which has won the Filly and Mare Turf three times, and twice with females stretching out from one mile – Banks Hill in 2001 and Intercontinental in 2005.
One of Blue Bolt’s biggest rivals in Europe was Precise, the Aidan O’Brien trainee who Blue Bolt defeated twice in Group 1 races – the Falmouth at Newmarket in July and the Rothschild at Deauville in August.
Precise had done all her running at a mile before being stretched to 1 1/4 miles in the Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp, where she finished second, beaten 1 1/4 lengths by Miss Scott. Jockey Christophe Soumillon, on Miss Scott, did a masterful job of keeping Ryan Moore boxed in during that race and getting the jump on Precise.
That defeat did not deter trainer Aidan O’Brien from targeting the Filly and Mare Turf with Precise.
“We were delighted with her really,” O’Brien said. “Ryan had to take his time on her. Christophe obviously had his eye on Ryan, so he knew where he was in the race, so he wasn’t going to move until the race was [almost] over. You’d have to be very happy, she was going to have no problem getting nine [furlongs] anyway. We were really happy with her run and everything has went well since, so we’re really looking forward to this race.”
For all his success in the Breeders’ Cup – O’Brien’s 21 wins equal Bob Baffert for the most in the series – he is just 1 for 21 (17 runnings) in the Filly and Mare Turf. Tuesday won it for O’Brien here in 2022.
Precise, again to be ridden by Moore, may get a good setup as Blue Bolt figures to be forward, as does Classic Q, also seeking to stretch out after winning the Grade 1 First Lady going one mile. Trainer Mark Casse is confident that Classic Q can carry her speed the 1 3/16 miles in part because he believes the competition knows “if they are after her, they’re dead.”
Jancis, another European-based runner, twice finished behind Blue Bolt in Europe then came to North America, where she finished third, beaten a neck by Gimme a Nother, in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine.
Brendan Walsh also is stretching out in distance his pair of Lush Lips and Expensive Queen from the First Lady to this spot. Lush Lips got a beautiful split in midstretch in the First Lady but got outfinished by a nose by Classic Q.
Expensive Queen had a more difficult trip, finding traffic everywhere she went as she finished sixth, beaten 1 3/4 lengths. Expensive Queen, who breaks from post 13 under Luis Saez, had won her three previous starts this year, including the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley.
“Go back and watch a replay of the First Lady, she never got any chance to run,” Walsh said. “The one thing about her now is she’ll love the extra distance. She wouldn’t be without a chance.”
Kathynmarissa, trained by six-time Filly and Mare Turf winner Chad Brown, based on her 5-1 morning-line odds, is considered America’s best chance. Kathynmarissa is 3 for 4 this year with victories in the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga and the Grade 2 Flower Bowl at Belmont Park.
“I’m really pleased with the draw [post 5] and the way potentially the race sets up on paper for her,” Brown said. “Very pleased with how she shipped in, she’s really settled in well, had two nice works here, one of them on the turf course. I feel I have her coming into the race exactly the way I want her, whether she stacks up with the international group, we’ll have to see. The distance works for her. It’s an entry I’m excited about.”
The South African-bred Gimme a Nother, trained by Graham Motion, brings a four-race win streak into the Breeders’ Cup, a streak that includes a 3-for-3 record in 2026. In the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor going 1 1/4 miles last out, Gimme a Nother split rivals in deep stretch to get up by a nose.
“I think the cutback is not going to hurt her, she’s pretty handy, and I love the inside draw,” Motion said. “I feel very good about it. Obviously, the Europeans are very, very tough.”
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Brad Cox sends out Bless the Broken, third in the First Lady, and Stellify, who breaks from post 14. While Stellify is likely to be forward, Bless the Broken will likely be running late.
“I love the distance for her,” Cox said.
Evershed, the Waya winner, was scratched Wednesday, allowing Vina Arana into the field. Vina Arana was an also-eligible for the Mile as well, and though a spot opened up for her to run in that race, trainer Jack Sisterson said she would not run because of the wide draw at that distance.
The Chilean-bred Eccentric, now in the barn of Wesley Ward; Thought Process, the front-running winner of the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita; and Irish Group 3 winner Red Letter complete the field.
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