Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies: Frizette likely to produce a contender or two
The Grade 1 Frizette ought to give a little more clarity to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies when it is run Sunday at Belmont Park, although it seems unlikely that any of the handful of BC hopefuls in the lineup will ultimately challenge the likes of Princess Noor and Simply Ravishing for favoritism at Keeneland.
Princess Noor is the 2-1 favorite on the early Juvenile Fillies line set by Daily Racing Form oddsmaker David Aragona, with Simply Ravishing a close 5-2 second choice. Each has been highly impressive in being unbeaten in three starts in the run-up to the Juvenile Fillies, which will be run at 1 1/16 miles on Nov. 6 at Keeneland.
Princess Noor, trained by Bob Baffert, has won her three races by a combined 17 1/4 lengths, ending with an 8 1/4-length romp in the definitive California prep, the Grade 2 Chandelier on Sept. 26 at Santa Anita.
Simply Ravishing, a New York-bred by Laoban, was equally dominant in winning the Grade 1 Alcibiades when Keeneland opened its fall meet Friday. She’s one of two top 10 Juvenile Fillies prospects for trainer Ken McPeek, along with Crazy Beautiful (12-1 on the DRF line), runner-up in the Pocahontas and Alcibiades.
The Frizette, to be run Saturday at a one-turn mile, is liable to produce one of the other favorites for the Juvenile Fillies, particularly if Vequist (10-1) or Dayoutoftheoffice (12-1) can replicate their last starts, which came at Saratoga. Vequist was a 9 1/2-length winner of the Grade 1 Spinaway on Sept. 6 and Dayoutoftheoffice was a six-length winner of the Grade 3 Schuylerville in mid-July. Forest Caraway (30-1), runner-up in the Del Mar Debutante last month for Peter Miller, is another looking to use the Frizette as a proving ground toward the Juvenile Fillies.
Another sharp last-out winner who made this inaugural top 10 list is Girl Daddy (8-1), winner of the Grade 3 Pocahontas during Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs. Trainer Dale Romans made a conscious decision to skip an interim prep to train straight into the Breeders’ Cup.
“We’ll have her on a regular breeze schedule into the race, every weekend depending on weather,” Romans said.
Other possibilities include Travel Column (15-1) and Thoughtfully (20-1), third and fourth in the Alcibiades, and the Baffert-trained Varda (30-1), runner-up to her stablemate Princess Noor in the Chandelier. As many as another eight to 10 fillies are under consideration for the Juvenile Fillies,