Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf: Brown has three contenders

Three of the last four runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf have been won by horses trained by Chad Brown, with Zagora scoring in 2012, Dayatthespa in 2014, and Stephanie’s Kitten in 2015.

Roughly six weeks away from the 2016 renewal, to be run Nov. 5 at Santa Anita, Brown has an opportunity to keep his winning ways going with three talented prospects being pointed to the race in Lady Eli, Dacita, and Sea Calisi. All three rank among the best turf mares in North America.

Lady Eli, winner of the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita in 2014, finished second after a long recovery from laminitis when beaten three-quarters of a length by Strike Charmer in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa on Aug. 27 at Saratoga. Dacita, winner of the Grade 1 Diana this summer, was a fast-closing second, beaten a nose, in the Grade 2 Canadian last Saturday at Woodbine. Sea Calisi won the Grade 1 Beverly D. at Arlington last month, one of three finishes in the exacta in as many starts this year.

Brown also trains another top turf mare in Rainha Da Bateria, who edged Dacita in the Canadian, but he said Wednesday that his preference was to run her in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor on Oct. 16 at Woodbine, rather than in the Filly and Mare Turf.

“She not at a Grade 1 winner to date,” Brown said. “And it should be an easier race than the Breeders’ Cup.”

He didn’t rule out changing plans or wheeling Rainha Da Bateria back from the E.P. Taylor in the Breeders’ Cup – she already has a fees-paid berth in the race by virtue of the Canadian being a Win and You’re In challenge prep – but he is focusing on the E.P. Taylor with her for now.

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A European, Alice Springs, is the early favorite for the race among British bookmakers at odds of about 7-2 after winning two Group 1 races this year, including the Matron at Leopardstown on Sept. 10. She is one of two Filly and Mare Turf challenge race winners trained by Aidan O’Brien. The other is Seventh Heaven, who is being offered at about 8-1 odds with bookmakers.

Both Alice Springs and Seventh Heaven are 3-year-old fillies, a division that seems particularly talented this year, both abroad and in the United States.

Catch a Glimpse and Time and Motion are among the top players among 3-year-old fillies in the United States, with the duo trading decisions in the Belmont Oaks and Lake Placid this summer. They are candidates for the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Oct. 15 at Keeneland.

Lady Eli and Sea Calisi are being pointed to the Flower Bowl on Oct. 8 at Belmont, while Dacita will be trained up to the Filly and Mare Turf after her race this past weekend, Brown said.