Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Lady Aurelia stands out
The leading candidate for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 4 is a Kentucky-based filly who has yet to run in a stakes in the United States.
After winning a maiden race at Keeneland, Lady Aurelia won group stakes at Royal Ascot in England in June and at Deauville in France in August. Trained by Wesley Ward, Lady Aurelia will be favored to win Saturday’s Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at six furlongs on turf at Newmarket in England.
For an American-based filly, Lady Aurelia is taking an unconventional path to the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, which is run at a mile. So far, Lady Aurelia is a standout among the prospects, but the list of candidates should change significantly in the next three weeks.
Aside from the Cheveley Park Stakes, there are important preps throughout the United States, France, and England.
The winner of Friday’s $130,000 Rockfel Stakes, a Group 2 run at seven furlongs at Newmarket, will receive a fees-paid berth to the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf through the BC Win and You’re In program. The Rockfel drew a field of eight and is led by Fair Eva, a group stakes winner at Ascot in July.
Three stakes in a 10-day span in October will help determine the American-based runners. American stables have dominated the eight-year history of the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, winning six times.
Coasted, the winner of the P.G. Johnson Stakes at Saratoga, is a leading contender for the $200,000 Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 2. With Honors, who won the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf, is scheduled to start in the $100,000 Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 10. Lull, the winner of the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies, is being pointed for what should be a competitive running of the $150,000 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 12.
The Jessamine Stakes is part of the Win and You’re In program.
Two fillies have earned fees-paid berths – Intricately, for her win in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh in Ireland on Sept. 11, and Victory to Victory, for her win in the Natalma Stakes at Woodbine last Sunday.
Victory to Victory will have her next start in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, trainer Mark Casse said this week. Casse won the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland in 2015 with Catch a Glimpse.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Lady Aurelia had not raced in the United States. She won her first start in a maiden race at Keeneland on April 21.
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