Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Motion goes for repeat win
A year after winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with Sharing in a minor upset, Maryland trainer Graham Motion has two prospects for the same race at Keeneland on Nov. 6.
Alda, second in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine on Sept. 20, is assured a berth in the Juvenile Fillies Turf at a mile. Invincible Gal, second in the Selima Stakes at Pimlico on Oct. 3, was among five fillies placed on the also-eligible list when pre-entries were released Wednesday. Nineteen fillies were pre-entered and 14 can run in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf.
The field could change significantly before entries are drawn on Monday. Simply Ravishing and Crazy Beautiful, the first two finishers of the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 2, are among the 14 selected horses for the Juvenile Fillies Turf, but trainer Ken McPeek also pre-entered them in the Juvenile Fillies on dirt, with that race listed as a first preference.
If those fillies are not entered in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, berths would become available for Tetragonal, who was second in the Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 4, and Union Gables, second in the Grade 3 Matron Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 11. Invincible Gal would need one more defection from the list of 14 invited runners to be assured a place.
Alda, owned by Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, won the Catch a Glimpse Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf at Woodbine on Aug. 23 in her stakes debut and third start. In the Natalma Stakes at a mile, Alda closed from last in a field of seven to finish three-quarters of a length behind Lady Speightspeare, who is sidelined.
Motion said the Natalma came sooner after the Catch a Glimpse than he would have preferred, but that those stakes should have Alda prepared for the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“She hasn’t done much wrong,” Motion said.
“I would have loved to have given her more time. It was the right way to go in the Natalma since she had a race up there. I thought she ran really well and now she’s had plenty of time.”
Motion said that jockey John Velazquez will ride Alda. Velazquez was aboard Alda for her first two starts, including a win in a maiden special weight race at six furlongs at Belmont Park in July.
Of the 19 fillies pre-entered, seven have won stakes in the United States, six have placed in stakes in Canada and the United States, three have won stakes in Europe, and two have placed in stakes in Europe. Snowfall has finished fourth or worse in four stakes in Europe.
The list of European stakes winners is led by Campanelle, who is trained in Kentucky by Wesley Ward. Campanelle won the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot in England in June and the Group 1 Prix Morny against males at Deauville, France, in August.