Dona Bruja takes on solid lineup in Jenny Wiley

LEXINGTON, Ky. – As 2017 unfolded, few filly-mare turf horses in North America were held in higher regard than Dona Bruja. A dead heat for second in the Grade 1 Beverly D. followed eye-catching scores in back-to-back Grade 3 races for the Argentine champion, and suddenly trainer Ignacio Correas had a major contender for a divisional Eclipse Award on his shed row.

Unfortunately for Correas, the year did not end as hoped. Dona Bruja was victimized by a slow pace in the Grade 1 First Lady in October at Keeneland, and after being withheld from the Breeders’ Cup, a start in the Cardinal in November was scrapped because of weather. Correas then got busy plotting a 2018 campaign for his stable star.

An integral part of that schedule is the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley, and it anchors a terrific 11-race Saturday card at Keeneland. Dona Bruja, with Jose Ortiz riding from post 4, is one of the main players in a deep lineup that also includes La Coronel, Cambodia, and a trio trained by Chad Brown – Off Limits, Sistercharlie, and Fourstar Crook.

Dona Bruja prepped for the 1 1/16-mile Jenny Wiley with a four-length triumph in the Grade 2 Endeavour on Feb. 10 on the Tampa Bay Downs turf.

“This will be a fair test of how good she is,” Correas said. “She’s in good shape and so far everything has gone as planned. This race is very tough, as you might have imagined. We’re not scared of anyone, but we respect them all.”

Any of the three Brown runners is capable of victory. Off Limits (post 3, Joel Rosario) won five of six starts in 2017, capped by a scintillating run to win the Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar in late November. Yet another in a long line of top-class filly-mare turfers owned by Martin Schwartz, the Irish-bred mare stands to benefit from her last race, the Grade 2 Hillsborough at Tampa, where she was a respectable fifth behind Fourstar Crook.

Sistercharlie (post 7, John Velazquez), a 4-year-old filly getting first-time Lasix, shows 11 workouts since mid-January in preparing for her first race in more than nine months. She flashed huge potential last summer in the Belmont Oaks, a Grade 1 race in which she was making her North American debut following a very promising start to her career in France. Sistercharlie rallied from far back as the favorite to narrowly miss catching her Brown-trained stablemate New Money Honey.

Fourstar Crook (post 11, Javier Castellano) made a furious run to win the March 10 Hillsborough, overtaking Proctor’s Ledge in the final yards and posting her 10th win from just 15 starts. Brown had considered other spots for the New York-bred standout before deciding to give her a shot here.

“She’s certainly shown she can be competitive with Grade 1-type fillies,” said Brown, who accounted for three graded wins on opening weekend of the 16-day Keeneland spring meet, including the Blue Grass Stakes with Good Magic.

Cambodia (post 1, Julien Leparoux) won three graded turf stakes last year, including the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon and Grade 2 John C. Mabee at Del Mar in the summer. Tom Proctor trains the 6-year-old War Front mare for Winter Quarter Farm.

La Coronel (post 8, Jose Lezcano), winner of the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup here last fall, was second to Dona Bruja in the Endeavour and third behind Fourstar Crook in the Hillsborough.

“Hopefully her third start of the year will be her best yet,” said Mark Casse, who trains La Coronel for John Oxley.

Among the longer shots, Proctor’s Ledge (post 10, Feargal Lynch) rates a long look, given her sharpness in her just-miss Hillsborough for trainer Brendan Walsh. From 10 starts, Proctor’s Ledge has won four times, including two graded stakes last summer on the Saratoga turf.

Rounding out the cast are Lovely Bernadette, Kitten’s Roar, Bletchley, and Ultra Brat.

The Jenny Wiley goes as race 10 and is the last of four straight stakes on a Saturday card that starts at 1:05 p.m. Eastern. Those other races are the Ben Ali (race 7, 4:24), the Giant’s Causeway (race 8, 4:57), and the Lexington (race 9, 5:34). The Jenny Wiley goes at 6:12, and the last race is at 6:45.

Keeneland is offering an all-stakes pick four (races 7-10) with a $300,000 pool guarantee to precede the late pick four (races 8-11). The late pick five (races 7-11) will include all the stakes.

This is the 30th running of the Jenny Wiley, named for a legendary pioneer who died in 1831. First run in 1989, it has been won by such divisional greats as Intercontinental (2004-05), Forever Together (2009), and Tepin (2016). The 2017 winner was Dickinson, who upset the great Lady Eli.

After warm and windy conditions here Thursday and Friday, the Saturday forecast is for morning showers and a high of 70.