Cristina's Journey gets ample time to acclimate to California

Cristina’s Journey punched her ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies by winning the Grade 2 Pocahontas at Churchill Downs on Sept. 6. She hasn’t raced since, but trainer Dale Romans is comfortable training her up to the Breeders’ Cup and plans to ship her to California on Monday.

The Pocahontas was the first of four Win and You’re In races for the Juvenile Fillies. In addition to the $136,059 that Cristina’s Journey earned in the Pocahontas, she also has a guaranteed berth in the Juvenile Fillies, and her entry and starting fees, which would have totaled $40,000, have been waived. The other Win and You’re In spots have since gone to Angela Renee (Chandelier Stakes), Peace and War (Alcibiades), and By the Moon (Frizette).

Cristina’s Journey has scored front-running victories in both of her races. She won a maiden race at Ellis Park by 4 1/4 lengths on July 27 and the Pocahontas six weeks later by 2 1/4 lengths. She will come into the Breeders’ Cup with eight weeks between starts.

“With the Pocahontas being in early September, the question was one race or no race?” Romans said. “It kind of puts you in an odd situation.”

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Cristina’s Journey’s physical makeup played a role in Romans’s decision.

“If she was a big, heavy horse and it would be tough to keep her fit, I may have run her in the Alcibiades,” he said. “But she’s not a big, imposing horse. The way she’s made, she’s got all the right shapes, all the right angles. She’s very athletic.”

Romans has worked Cristina’s Journey three times since the Pocahontas. Since she is shipping Monday, she will complete her Breeders’ Cup preparations out west.

“It’s one of the earlier planes and will give her a little time out there,” Romans said. “There’s no right or wrong way, and I’ve tried both. I’m just making sure if there is any bump in the road that we have time to fix it. Two years ago, there was the hurricane, and people almost didn’t make it out there.”

People may downgrade the chances of Cristina’s Journey because she won her maiden at Ellis Park. But it should be noted that Romans makes good use of the Ellis Park meet each year.

Over the last three summers, he has sent out four 2-year-olds to Ellis maiden wins who have gone on to win graded stakes. In addition to Cristina’s Journey, they are Medal Count, the winner of the Grade 3 Transylvania at Keeneland and the third-place finisher in the Belmont Stakes; Cleburne, the winner of the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill; and Moonwalk, the winner of the Grade 3 Jessamine at Keeneland.

Pletcher chooses riders

Todd Pletcher said that as of now Javier Castellano will ride Feathered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and John Velazquez has the mount on Angela Renee.

Castellano has been aboard Feathered in all three of her starts. Velazquez was aboard Angela Renee for her first three races, but Rafael Bejarano was up for her Chandelier victory at Santa Anita last time out.

Feathered was not as flashy in her third-place Frizette finish as she was in winning her maiden by nine-plus lengths at Saratoga, but she showed toughness by racing between horses early and rallying outside runner-up Wonder Gal in the stretch.

Pletcher said he believes she had difficulty with the sloppy footing.

“I don’t think she handled it very well,” he said. “She seemed like she was bobbling around a little bit and was in a difficult position where she was. I give her credit for continuing to try right to the wire. It looked like less-than-ideal circumstances for her.”

– additional reporting by David Grening