Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf: Timing appeals to So Mi Dar
Two contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf emerged last weekend, thousands of miles away and an ocean apart.
First, Avenge punched her ticket by taking last Saturday’s Grade 1 Rodeo Drive, run under the same conditions as the Filly and Mare Turf: 1 1/4 miles on Santa Anita’s lightning-quick turf course. Then, a day later in France, the connections of So Mi Dar expressed interest in running her in the Breeders’ Cup after a close third in the Prix de l’Opera after a somewhat troubled run in which she was boxed in during the early portion of a slow-paced race.
So Mi Dar’s third was her first loss in five starts and left her connections still aiming to win a Grade 1 or Group 1 race with her, which she has not done to date.
Simon Marsh, racing manager for owners Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber, told The Sporting Life that the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf likely would be a more desirable next-race option for her, rather than a quick turnaround to run at Ascot on Champions Day there.
“If she went to the Breeders’ Cup, it would be a month after her last run, which is ideal,” he said.
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Avenge, meanwhile, earned a fees-paid in the Breeders’ Cup by leading throughout in the Rodeo Drive, a Win and You’re In challenge prep.
Another Win and You’re In race is on tap Saturday with the running of the Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont, which is shaping up as the strongest prep leading up to the Filly and Mare Turf. Lady Eli, Sea Calisi, and Strike Charmer are among those expected to run.
A week from Saturday, many of the better 3-year-old turf fillies will race in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland, including divisional leaders Catch a Glimpse and Time and Motion, and that race, along with the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor, to be run next Sunday at Woodbine, could produce some Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf starters.
Smart Call, withdrawn from last Saturday’s Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket due to injury, hasn’t been ruled out of the Filly and Mare Turf, with her connections hoping she can recover quickly to make the race. She won a pair of Group 1 races in South Africa this year but is unraced since January.