Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies: Chop Chop needs a hair more in deep field
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Chop Chop lost the battle, but she stands a big chance to win the war. A furious rally in the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland came up just a few inches shy, but Friday presents a brand-new day.
Chop Chop and Wonder Wheel, the filly who beat her a nose in the Oct. 7 Alcibiades, are just two of the major players in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, the seventh of 10 races on the Future Stars Friday card at Keeneland.
Wonder Wheel and Chop Chop are joined by Grade 1 winners Chocolate Gelato, And Tell Me Nolies, and Leave No Trace in a remarkably deep lineup of 2-year-old fillies seeking a championship in the $2 million Juvenile Fillies, invariably the pivotal race in deciding the divisional Eclipse Award. A full gate of 14 goes.
“We think she’s got a great shot,” said Brad Cox, who trains Chop Chop for Selective LLC of Jerry Bach. “She’s already shown she’s got a lot of fight in her, and that’s probably what it’s going to take to win a race this tough.”
Cox, whose record-tying four wins over the two-day Breeders’ Cup here in 2020 vaulted him to his first of two straight Eclipses for outstanding trainer, can’t be too far wrong in foreseeing a real dogfight unfolding. Wonder Wheel, allowed a relaxed lead by her Alcibiades rivals when going wire to wire, likely won’t have it as easy this time, given the presence of more capable early runners in this bulky field.
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“It does look like there’s more speed in here, but that’s okay,” said Casse, who trains Wonder Wheel for the DJ Stable LLC of Leonard Green. “She definitely had a great trip in the Alcibiades, but I think she’s better than what you saw. She was kind of looking around and not completely focused down the stretch. We’ve got a good post for this, and she can settle off the lead if that’s what’s needed.”
Wonder Wheel, with Tyler Gaffalione back riding, will break from post 5, while Chop Chop will have Joel Rosario back aboard leaving from post 7.
Their opposition is led by Chocolate Gelato (post 10, Irad Ortiz Jr.), whose victory for Todd Pletcher over a sloppy track in the Grade 1 Frizette last month at the Belmont at the Big A meet led Keeneland linemaker Nick Tammaro to list her as the lukewarm 7-2 favorite. This race marks the two-turn debut of Chocolate Gelato, as well as the respective two-three finishers in the one-turn-mile Frizette, You’re My Girl (post 2, John Velazquez) and Leave No Trace (post 13, Jose Lezcano).
Leave No Trace won the Grade 1 Spinaway on closing weekend at Saratoga for Phil Serpe, whose three prior BC starts came with Birdonthewire in the 1993-94 Sprint and Pure Gossip in the 2011 Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“She’s bred to go two turns and I think she’ll like going two turns,” said Serpe. “As far as the post, it’s tough, but the more I thought about it, the more I don’t mind. Monday was Halloween when they drew, and we got 13, so we’ve got that going for us.”
Likewise, Raging Sea (post 14, Flavien Prat) will be tasked with overcoming a difficult draw. The Chad Brown-trained filly was making just her second start when rallying to be a close third in the Alcibiades, only to be disqualified to fourth for deep-stretch interference.
Pletcher has a second Juvenile Fillies starter in Atomically (post 8, Luis Saez), perhaps the wild card of the group. The Florida-bred daughter of the hot new sire Girvin will be making her first start in Pletcher’s care after being sold privately following a couple of dominant efforts in statebred company.
And Tell Me Nolies (post 3, Ramon Vazquez), the only two-time Grade 1 winner in the field, has been something of an overachiever, as she won the Del Mar Debutante at 9-1 and the Chandelier at 8-1 for Peter Miller. A sticking point that figures to make her similar odds again Friday: Her Beyer Speed Figures of 71 and 75 in those respective wins don’t quite match up to what some of the other top contenders have registered so far in their brief careers.
Both the Juvenile Fillies and its male counterpart, the BC Juvenile (race 9), will be run at a “short stretch” distance, with both the start and finish being at what otherwise is the sixteenth pole.
This is the 39th Juvenile Fillies, one of the “original seven” held in 1984 at Hollywood Park. Its history is marked with numerous big-priced winners, starting right off with Outstandingly ($47.60) on the disqualification of 74-1 shot Fran’s Valentine in the inaugural running. Subsequent bombers include Epitome (30-1 in 1987), Cash Run (32-1 in 1999), Caressing (47-1 in 2000), Ria Antonia (32-1 in 2013), Take Charge Brandi (66-1 in 2014), and Champagne Room (33-1 in 2016).
Eddie Kenneally, as the trainer of longshot Shoplifter (post 12, Martin Garcia), would like to add to that list of BC stunners. He talked with confidence this week about how the Super Saver filly has approached her first start since she was second in the Grade 3 Pocahontas at Churchill Downs in mid-September.
“She’s already got two-turn experience, and I think the gap between races is ideal timing for her,” said Kenneally. “She’s shown quality from the beginning, for sure, and her breeze over the track last Friday [a half-mile in 48.40 seconds] went really, really well.”
In a similar vein, Bill Mott will send out American Rockette (post 11, Junior Alvarado), fourth in the Frizette, as his first of nine BC starters this weekend, many of them highly regarded.
“She’s a little flighty but very talented,” said Mott. “I’m not sure she cared for the mud in her last race. We’re reaching out a bit with her, but if things go her way, she can really close some ground.”
Rounding out the field are Vegas Magic, Sabra Tuff, Alma Rosa, and Grand Love.
Post time for the Juvenile Fillies is 3:40 p.m. Eastern.
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