Fatale Bere to target Grade 1 stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – Fatale Bere, the winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, is expected to start in Grade 1 stakes within her age group at Keeneland and Santa Anita in coming months.

On Sunday, trainer Leonard Powell said he is targeting races such as the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland on Oct. 13 and the American Oaks at Santa Anita in the final week of the year.

The Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Sept. 29 holds some appeal, but Powell is reluctant to race Fatale Bere against older fillies and mares.

“I think the priority is the Queen Elizabeth and the American Oaks,” he said. “There are 10,000 options.

“The Rodeo Drive is out here and it’s nice, but it’s against older fillies. The Queen Elizabeth is at Keeneland, but it’s against Rushing Fall.”

Rushing Fall won the Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga on Saturday for her fourth stakes win. Rushing Fall won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar last November.

Powell does not have aspirations of racing Fatale Bere in the BC Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3. The same race at Santa Anita in 2019 is another matter.

“I’d rather stay among 3-year-olds this year and aim for the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita next year,” Powell said. “

Fatale Bere ($16) won her first Grade 1, and third stakes, in the Del Mar Oaks at 1 1/8 miles, closing from eighth in a field of 10 to catch 9-5 favorite Ollie’s Candy.

Fatale Bere has won 5 of 10 starts and earned $422,964 for Gerald Benowitz, Head of Plains Racing, Mark Mathiesen, and Mathilde Powell.