California shipper Mother Mother tops Rags to Riches

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The last time Churchill Downs fans got a look at Bob Baffert, he was being showered with praise for winning the Triple Crown with Justify. More than four months after that memorable mid-June ceremony, the Hall of Fame trainer once again figures to cast a major presence when Churchill opens its 21-day fall meet Sunday.

Baffert will be represented by the favorite in the first of two stakes on the Stars of Tomorrow opener in Mother Mother, a promising filly whose lone defeat came to Bellafina, the likely heavy favorite here Friday in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Mother Mother is one of nine fillies in the $100,000 Rags to Riches, the eighth of 11 Sunday races, all for 2-year-olds.

Owned by a five-way partnership, Mother Mother drew immediate raves by earning an 87 Beyer Speed Figure in winning her July debut at Del Mar prior to finishing second to Bellafina in her lone subsequent outing, the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on Sept. 1. The daughter of Pioneerof the Nile – the sire of Baffert’s first Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah – will be adding blinkers and will have Florent Geroux aboard when she breaks from post 2 in the one-mile Rags to Riches.

Among the handful of threats are a pair of last-out maiden winners, Into Mystic and Take Charge Angel, as well as a trio exiting graded stakes: Love My Honey, Princesa Carolina, and Chocolate Kisses.

Take Charge Angel made a terrific impression when she got a 76 Beyer in a debut romp here last month at 6 1/2 furlongs for trainer Brad Cox, who topped the 2017 Churchill fall standings with 13 winners.

“Going a mile in just her second start is an obvious question, but she acts like she wants more ground,” said Cox.

The second stakes of the Sunday opener is the $300,000 Spendthrift Juvenile Stallion Stakes (race 10), a seven-furlong race restricted to offspring of sires stood by the race sponsor. B. B. Dude, whose 3-for-4 record includes victories in two sprint stakes for trainer Steve Asmussen, could be favored. She faces a pair of also-rans from the Grade 1 Champagne earlier this month, Casa Creed and Achilles Warrior, amid a field of nine.

Achilles Warrior won his August debut at Saratoga going 5 1/2 furlongs before trainer Mark Hennig tried him in the one-mile Champagne.

“It was too much too soon, and I was kind of kicking myself afterward,” said Hennig. “Not in a million years would I go from five and a half to a mile, especially with a young horse, but there wasn’t an allowance or another stake for him in New York. We took one swing at the fences and it didn’t pan out, but he is a nice colt, and this spot should fit him a lot better.”

Spendthrift is discontinuing this race after this running. Divisions for both sexes were run in 2016 and 2017, but it’s just one race this year, with three fillies facing five colts and one gelding. The most notable winners from prior runnings are Warrior’s Club (2016), who was a maiden beforehand, and Mia Mischief (2017), who runs Saturday in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint. Two maidens, Gentle Warrior and Naughty Joker, are in this renewal.

This is the 14th year for the Stars of Tomorrow program, which has produced more than 50 future Grade 1 winners, including such notables as Rachel Alexandra, Gun Runner, Super Saver, Shackleford, Fort Larned, and Monomoy Girl.

After Sunday, Churchill goes dark for two days before Breeders’ Cup week begins Wednesday.