Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies: Unbeaten Songbird, Rachel's Valentina clash

In their showdown for a divisional title, unbeaten Grade 1 winners Songbird and Rachel’s Valentina will be asked to prove their supremacy not only against one another, but against eight rivals who got a break Monday at the post-position draw when the two favorites drew to the outside.

The 1 1/16-mile Juvenile Fillies, the first of Saturday's Breeders' Cup races at Keeneland, has a field of 10 – one of the only races not to draw a full field, no doubt owing to the two formidable favorites. Songbird, under Mike Smith, is in post 10, while Rachel's Valentina and John Velazquez are just to her inside in post 9.

Songbird has won all three of her starts in California by open lengths for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, with Grade 1 triumphs in the Del Mar Debutante and, most recently, the Chandelier Stakes. Rachel's Valentina – the daughter of champions Bernardini and Rachel Alexandra – won her first two starts at Saratoga, including the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes. She is trained by Todd Pletcher.

Boding well for the two young stars, the Juvenile Fillies has been among the most formful Breeders' Cup races, with 17 favorites winning in 31 prior runnings, and winners paying $5 or less in 22 total years. The race has seen major upsets the last two years, however, as Ria Antonia paid $32.30 when she won by disqualification in 2013, and champion Take Charge Brandi paid $61.70 last year.

The Juvenile Fillies field, from the rail out, is: Land Over Sea, Tap to It, Right There, Ma Can Do It, Forever Darling, Bold Quality, Nickname, Dothraki Queen, Rachel's Valentina, and Songbird.