Hidden Connection on her way to Breeders' Cup after powerful Pocahontas victory

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bret Calhoun confirmed early Monday that Hidden Connection will make her next start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 5 at Del Mar after the filly turned in the most dominant performance among five stakes run Saturday night at a raucous Churchill Downs.

Hidden Connection, trained by Calhoun for Hidden Brook Farm and Black Type Thoroughbreds, set a stakes record in the 1 1/16-mile Pocahontas Stakes in winning the Grade 3 race in 1:43.78 over a fast track. The daughter of the young sire Connect earned an 87 Beyer Speed Figure by winning the 53rd Pocahontas by 9 1/2 lengths under Reylu Gutierrez, who was posting his first-ever Churchill victory in his 10th ride here. Hidden Connection had won her debut Aug. 17 at Colonial with an 84 Beyer.

“It is incredibly special to get my first win at Churchill Downs for these great people, in front of this amazing crowd and aboard this filly,” said the well-traveled Gutierrez, 25. “She’s unbelievable.”

An ontrack crowd of 20,204 – many of them young and enthusiastic fans on hand for “Louisville Live,” a celebratory opening of the preseason for the University of Louisville men’s and women’s basketball programs – witnessed some terrific racing.

Sconsin earned a 90 Beyer and stamped her ticket to the BC Filly and Mare Sprint in winning the Open Mind. Just Might, with a 93 Beyer, continued a breakthrough year for trainer Michelle Lovell in a gate-to-wire triumph in the inaugural Louisville Thoroughbred Society. Major General, in from New York for Todd Pletcher, earned his way into the BC Juvenile by winning the Iroquois and earned a 76 Beyer. And the 2020 Kentucky Oaks winner, Shedaresthedevil, led every step of the Locust Grove, her final prep for the BC Distaff. She received a 95 Beyer.

The Pocahontas record came in the eighth time the race has been run at 1 1/16 miles; it was a one-turn mile for the other 45 runnings.

In any case, Calhoun is excited about how quickly Hidden Connection has emerged as a star. He said when Hidden Connection was training at Keeneland this spring, “I thought she could be special. Then we went to Colonial and she won so impressively on debut. She didn’t have as much experience as some of the horses in this race, but she backed up that win very well.”

The Pocahontas and Iroquois not only were Win and You’re In races toward their respective BC events, but also the first qualifying points races toward the Kentucky Oaks and Derby next May. Each winner earned 10 points.