Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Capla Temptress has travel plans booked
Capla Temptress is a 2-year-old filly on the go these days.
An Irish-bred, Capla Temptress was sent from England to Canada for last Sunday’s Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine. She performed brilliantly, closing from seventh in a field of nine to win for the third time in four starts.
On Tuesday, she was vanned to trainer Bill Mott’s stable in New York. At the end of October, if all goes well, Capla Temptress will be sent to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 3.
That trip is free. Capla Temptress earned a berth in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, and a fees-paid trip, by winning the Natalma.
“It worked out perfectly,” said Barry Irwin, chief executive of the Team Valor International syndicate that owns the filly. “We saw that desire.”
Capla Temptress was trained by Marco Botti of England for the Natalma and could return to his stable in 2018, according to Irwin. For now, Capla Temptress will be with Mott.
The filly has won on ground ranging from soft to firm.
“I asked Botti if she was ground dependent, and he said no,” Irwin said. “He said, ‘I don’t know how good she is.’ ”
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Capla Temptress ranks among the leading contenders for the $1 million BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, which is run at a mile. The composition of the field will be better known in the next three weeks, with leading prep races at Belmont Park, Keeneland, and Santa Anita and in England and France.
The winners of the Grade 3 Miss Grillo Stakes on Oct. 1 at Belmont Park and the Grade 3 Jessamine Stakes on Oct. 11 at Keeneland will receive fees-paid berths. The Miss Grillo is expected to include Orbolution, winner of the P.G. Johnston Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 31.
The leading prep race in California is the $100,000 Surfer Girl Stakes at a mile on turf Oct. 9 at Santa Anita.
Terra’s Angel, winner of the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf on Sept. 4, will have her next start on dirt in the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes on Sept. 30 at Santa Anita, a race that will determine how trainer Dallas Keen plans for the Breeders’ Cup.
Trainer Chad Brown, who won the 2016 BC Juvenile Fillies Turf with New Money Honey, has three prospects – Africa, Rushing Fall, and Significant Form – who will start in the Jessamine or the Miss Grillo. Africa is a recent arrival from France who was third in a minor stakes at La Teste Racecourse on Aug. 1.