Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Aunt Pearl goes wire to wire
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Aunt Pearl, one of four undefeated horses in the field, ran 13 other 2-year-old fillies rivals off their feet, leading from start to finish en route to a convincing 2 1/2-length victory under jockey Florent Geroux in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Mother Earth rallied from far back to finish second, a neck in front of fellow European invader Miss Amulet.
Aunt Pearl had won her only two previous starts in similar wire-to-wire fashion, a one-mile maiden race at Churchill Downs on Sept. 1 followed by a similarly easy 2 1/2-length decision in the Grade 2 Jessamine a 1 1/16 miles over this course five weeks later.
Aunt Pearl broke in full stride, quickly sprinted clear and opened a daylight advantage before completing her opening quarter in a swift 22.55 seconds. She maintained a comfortable advantage through splits of 47.30 for the half and 1:12.21 after six furlongs, then settled into the stretch with a commanding lead and was never menaced.
Mother Earth, third in the Group 1 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket over softer ground for trainer Aidan O’Brien at Newmarket four weeks earlier, raced near the rear of the pack to the stretch before finishing best of all down the center of the course to be second best while no match for the winner. Miss Amulet, runner-up in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes, also at Newmarket, in her previous outing, eased off the rail upon turning for home and rallied mildly for third while never switching off her left lead down the stretch. Campanelle, who attended the pace, finished fourth, followed in order by the previous unbeaten Plum Ali, Spanish Loveaffair, Editor At Large, Madone, Oodnadatta, Nazuna, Invincible Gal, Alda, Royal Approval, and Union Gables.
The top four finishers in the Juvenile Fillies are all Irish-breds. Aunt Pearl, a daughter of Lope de Vega, was purchased privately by her current connections in Europe prior to her first start. She is owned by a partnership group led by Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables LLC and Michael Dubb, and also includes Peter Deutsch, Michael Kibber, the Elkstone Group, and Bethlehem Stables.
Aunt Pearl completed a mile in 1:35.71 and returned $7.20. She earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She’s a super-talented filly who I think can go beyond a mile, even a mile and an eighth, and I was very proud of her,” said trainer Brad Cox, who also trains the brilliant Monomoy Girl for the same ownership group. “I’m very happy for the connections. You know we’ve been here before and we’re back again, so it’s huge. It’s huge. We’re very blessed to have great clients and great help surrounding us. Very happy with the position we’re in both days.”
Geroux, who has been aboard Aunt Pearl for all three of her victories, said, “She’s a very gifted filly, just amazing. She goes fast but I feel like she’s coming back to me. She does it easily. In the morning we breeze in company and sit off another horse and she’s very gentle and does it nicely.”
Kumin, speaking on behalf of the ownership team, said, “Brad has liked her from the beginning. I talked with him before the race and he said she has natural speed and there was no sense taking that away from her. He was exuding Monomoy Girl kind of confidence. He said she was in a league of her own, as she demonstrated today.”
