Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies: Emphatic uses flashy move to score Walsh his first win

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In order for Emphatic to remain undefeated in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Friday at Keeneland, the well-tested 2-year-old needed a perfect trip. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione was up to the task, unleashing her on the far turn and holding off an unlucky Miss Monica to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

“I felt like a winner the entire race,” Gaffalione said. “She broke alertly, put herself in the game early and when I pushed the button, she really responded.”

Trainer Brendan Walsh, unlucky or disappointed in his first 13 attempts, finally earned his first Breeders’ Cup victory with a filly who had long been preparing for the 1 1/16-mile championship event. Other trainers have suffered through longer droughts, but Walsh has long been considered overdue.

“It was setting up perfectly,” Walsh said. “They were rolling. When she opened up, I thought she was going to tire a little bit, then she didn’t, but [Miss Monica] was running at her. But she was in front far enough and finished well. She’s a super filly.”

Walsh’s two most disappointing moments in the Breeders’ Cup both came with 2-year-olds. In 2019, he had to scratch the unbeaten colt Maxfield from the Juvenile because of a right front leg injury. When he finally got a chance in the gate in the 2024 Juvenile with the 9-5 favorite East Avenue, the colt stumbled at the start and lost all chance.

“I think when they were going in the gate, they said that I was 0 for 13, and 13 is not an awful lot,” Walsh said. “I had two really live ones. One didn’t make it into the gate and the other didn’t make it out of the gate. But it’s nice to win one. As a trainer, this and the [Kentucky] Derby, this is what every trainer in the United States wants to win, so it’s just a great ending.”

Coming off back-to-back victories around two turns in the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland and $100,000 Sorority at Monmouth Park, Emphatic was listed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the Juvenile Fillies. She did not remain the favorite at post time, however, as the Bob Baffert trainee Miss Monica was bet down to 2-1. Emphatic closed at 5-2 and paid $7.92 to win.

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Emphatic, bred in Pennsylvania by Jon A. Marshall, is owned by Antony Beck of Gainesway Stable and Andrew Rosen, who have previously partnered with graded stakes winners Luster, Pink Sands, and Bees and Honey in a relationship going back more than a decade.

The betting public correctly identified the top two contenders in the field of 12 juvenile fillies, as the runner-up Miss Monica finished 8 1/4 lengths clear of the third-place finisher Manuka Honey. But while Emphatic benefited from an ideal stalking trip under Gaffalione, Miss Monica and Flavien Prat had a nightmarish time by comparison.

Coming off a 6 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in September, Baffert shipped Miss Monica to Kentucky early to begin training for her first two-turn test at Keeneland.

No amount of preparation could have prepared her for the break on Friday, however, as the filly bumped at the start and had to make her way forward from 10th.

Emphatic, on the other hand, could not have been more comfortable into the first turn under Gaffalione. While the 21-1 longshot Lexi’s Charm went wild on the lead, the Walsh trainee settled into a clear second, well ahead of a gaggle of runners jockeying for position behind.

“We figured coming out of [Lexi’s Charm’s] last race, she thought she would be out in front again, but the only surprise was Miss Monica was not up there early,” Gaffalione said. “As far as my filly, I just let her run her race, acted like we were the only ones in there, and she gave me confidence the entire race.”

Lexi’s Charm, who set the early pace before fading to 11th, was clear by as many as three lengths while completing the opening quarter-mile in 22.54 seconds and half-mile in 45.87. She was ridden by Umberto Rispoli, a last-second replacement for Jose Ortiz, who was unseated in the fifth race and wheeled to first aid in a stretcher. Ortiz elected to skip the Juvenile Fillies before returning to ride later on the Future Stars Friday card.

When Lexi’s Charm began to come back to the field, Emphatic was in a prime position to take over. Because she was so clear of the rest of the field while Lexi’s Charm was faltering ahead of her, when Emphatic launched her bid on the far turn, it looked like an undeniable juggernaut. She extended to lead by four lengths turning for home, but her work was far from done.

Advancing in traffic for most of the race, Miss Monica blasted through the crowd on the far turn to take second at the top of the stretch. Prat had the Baffert-trained favorite rolling at last, and in a 1 1/8-mile race, she might have been have able to persevere. The wire came first, however.

“That’s the thing with young horses,” Baffert said. “You need everything to go your way to win these big races. The start was just… I’m surprised she ran second. It’s an incredible race she ran. I think Prat did the right thing. He didn’t panic. But the winner, you can’t give her a head start.”

Emphatic, still rocking in front under Gaffalione, had plenty of room at the end, easily holding over her unfortunate rival. She completed the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:42.29. Hughes, the Juvenile winner later in the day, ran the same distance in 1:42.27.

“I need to thank my team as well,” Walsh said. “They did some work on this filly, because she hasn’t been the easiest going all the way along, and none of them are easy. The guys have done such a fantastic job with her the whole way through.”

Manuka Honey, a previously unbeaten filly trained by Brian Lynch, finished a well-beaten third, running a half-length clear of the George Weaver-trained maiden Revenge of the Sis.

In the Alcibiades at Keeneland last time out, many concluded that the front-running Emphatic took advantage of the unlucky favorite Summer Starlet, who might have been favored in the Juvenile Fillies after a bad trip that day. It is possible they may say the same thing of the Walsh trainee’s win over Miss Monica.

But as Baffert ruefully noted, races of this caliber between horses so young can so often be determined by trips. In four career starts, Emphatic has proven talented and brave, but more important, she has been capable of making her own luck. Earlier this week, Walsh said he hoped the filly would be capable of rectifying his past Breeders’ Cup disappointments. She did it in a trademark style all her own.

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