Breeders' Cup: My Miss Aurelia tops four unbeaten fillies in Juvenile Fillies
My Miss Aurelia, one of four unbeaten fillies in the full field of 14, drew post 9 and was installed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite by track linemaker Mike Battaglia for Friday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
My Miss Aurelia, trained by Steve Asmussen, is 3 for 3 with victories in the Grade 2 Adirondack at Saratoga and the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont Park, a race she won by 5 1/2 lengths. On Monday, My Miss Aurelia worked four furlongs in 49.68 seconds over Churchill’s main track.
“Very comfortable, seems very happy,” said Asmussen, who trains My Miss Aurelia for Stonestreet Stables and George Bolton. “Extremely pleased with her. If she’s happy, we’re happy. She’s coming off a very good race. I thought it was a fast race. I feel very comfortable with where she’s at.”
Other unbeatens joining My Miss Aurelia in the gate are dual Grade 1 winner Weemissfrankie (post 11), Grade 1 Spinaway winner Grace Hall (post 5), and Grade 2 Arlington-Washington Lassie winner Rocket Twentyone (post 3).
Weemissfrankie, who is coming off a victory in the Grade 1 Oak Leaf in her dirt and two-turn debut, may have taken the worst of it among the top contenders at the post position draw, getting assigned post 11.
“If you would have given me the choice of the 11-hole or the three or four, I would have taken the outside,” said Peter Eurton, trainer of Weemissfrankie. “It’s better than the 13 or 14. You’ll have to go a little wide, but I won’t have any dirt thrown in my face.”
The field includes two European-based horses trying dirt for the first time. Questing, trained by John Gosden, is a English-bred daughter of Hard Spun and is a half-sister to three North American dirt maiden winners. Homecoming Queen is an Irish-bred half-sister to Dylan Thomas, a multiple Group 1 turf winner who was beaten 32 lengths in the 2006 Jockey Club Gold Cup, his only start on dirt.
Juvenile Fillies Turf, Post Time: 4:50 ET Friday
Purse: $1,000,000; 1 mile; gr. II
Post |
Horse |
Trainer |
Jockey |
ML Odds |
|
|
My Gi Gi |
Brian Koriner |
Rafeal Bejarano |
20-1 |
|
|
Dayatthespa |
Chad Brown |
Ramon Dominguez |
12-1 |
|
|
Up |
Aidan O'Brien |
Ryan Moore |
20-1 |
|
|
Stopshoppingmaria |
Todd Pletcher |
Javier Castellano |
8-1 |
|
|
Stephanie's Kitten |
Wayne Catalano |
John Velazquez |
12-1 |
|
|
Sweet Cat |
Todd Pletcher |
Garrett Gomez |
10-1 |
|
|
Royal Bonnie |
George Weaver |
Cornelio Velasquez |
30-1 |
|
|
Hard Not To Like |
Gail Cox |
Mike Smith |
15-1 |
|
|
Pure Gossip |
Phil Serpe |
Ryan Curatolo |
12-1 |
|
|
Elusive Kate |
John Gosden |
William Buick |
2-1 |
|
|
Ann of the Dance |
Jimmy DeVito |
Corey Nakatani |
30-1 |
|
|
Dear Lavinia |
Jean-Claude Rouget |
Christophe Lemaire |
30-1 |
|
|
Customer Base |
Thomas Proctor |
Julien Leparoux |
12-1 |
|
|
Somali Lemonade |
Michael Matz |
Alex Solis |
3-1 |
|
|
Bourbonstreetgirl (AE) |
Gary Contessa |
Joe Talamo |
30-1 |
|
|
Karlovy Vary (AE) |
George Arnold |
Garrett Gomez |
30-1 |
