Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Sun Goddess already a likely favorite for 1000 Guineas

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – She did all the shipping this time, but if American racing fans want another in-person look at the great 2-year-old filly Sun Goddess, they will have to travel for it.

Sun Goddess goes back home to Ireland in the coming days, and if all goes well, her next race will come Sunday, May 2, at Newmarket in England. Even at this early date, English bookmakers aren’t offering much more than even-money on Sun Goddess to win the 1000 Guineas.

Sun Goddess received a 92 Beyer Speed Figure for her three-length win in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. It was no contest, really, not after Sun Goddess, who had never raced around a turn, settled sweetly just behind a slow pace in the two-turn, one mile contest.

“She went completely asleep out there,” jockey Ryan Moore said. “She was very relaxed and very comfortable.”

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Friday’s victory gave Sun Goddess a remarkable four Group or Grade 1 wins over the course of a nine-race campaign in races ranging from six furlongs to one mile. Sun Goddess developed early and was ready to race in early May, the sort of horse who often does not want a distance even as long as one mile. She got a mile Friday with speed to spare – and might get farther.

“The exciting thing about her, she got the mile well, and she could get farther next year,” trainer Aidan O’Brien said.

With the victory, O’Brien broke a tie with Bob Baffert for most Breeders’ Cup wins at 22. One race later, Baffert matched him with Hughes in the Juvenile. O’Brien would get the last laugh − at least for Friday − taking the finale with Haffner in the Juvenile Turf.

Sun Goddess has proven Green Empress’s foil all year; the Juvenile Fillies Turf marked the third time Green Empress has finished second behind her. Its possible longer distances could narrow the gap between the two. Green Empress lacks Sun Goddess’s brilliance but stayed on well Friday and bred to improve with more ground. Trainer Joseph O’Brien just after Friday’s race stopped well short of committing her to the Guineas, though he said that was a potential landing spot for both Green Empress and fourth-place Alwaysanangel.

Curracloe, nipped for second, turned in a strong performance of her own while racing for just the third time.

“She is – she is immature physically,” trainer John Murtagh said as Curracloe returned to be unsaddled Friday. “We do see her as a filly going forward who will be a really, really nice 3-year-old.”

O’Brien, though, believes Sun Goddess, too is meant more to be a 3-year-old than a 2-year-old, despite all she’s done this season. And more said we didn’t come close to seeing the best of Sun Goddess at Keeneland.

“She just cantered around there,” Moore said.

And won by three.

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