Iridessa's connections have plenty of options in 2020

ARCADIA, Calif. – Iridessa, the 13-1 upset winner of Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita, was scheduled to return to Ireland on Monday but is expected to race in 2020 with a possible year-end target being the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland.

Bill Dwan, racing manager for owner Mrs. CC Regalado-Gonzalez, said Iridessa would get a break during which time he, Regalado-Gonzalez, and trainer Joseph O’Brien would formulate a plan for 2020.

“She has now won a Group 1 [at] a mile and at [1 1/4 miles] this year, so thankfully she has a lot of options next near,” Dwan wrote in an e-mail. “The fact that she seems to handle traveling well gives us that option abroad also.”

The 1 1/4-mile Filly and Mare Turf was the third Grade or Group 1 victory this year for Iridessa, a 3-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Ruler of the World. She won the Group 1 Matron Stakes going a mile at Leopardstown in September. She also won the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes going 1 1/4 miles at the Curragh in June.

Iridessa, who held off Vasilika by a neck in the Filly and Mare Turf, made O’Brien, at 26, the youngest trainer to win a Breeders’ Cup Race. O’Brien is the son of famed Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien. In 2011, Joseph became the youngest jockey to win a BC race when, at 18, he won the Turf aboard St. Nicholas Abbey for his father.

Asked if next year’s BC Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland could be a long-range goal for Iridessa, Dwan wrote, “Yes, it would be great to come back for a crack at another Breeders’ Cup. But that’s a year away so we’ll take it one step at a time.”

Iridessa earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure for the Filly and Mare Turf victory.

Meanwhile, Filly and Mare Turf runner-up Vasilika, was scheduled to fly to Kentucky Sunday where she will go through the auction ring at Tuesday’s Fasig-Tipton auction. Mark Schlaich, one of the owners of Vasilika, said Sunday that it is possible if Vasilika doesn’t bring the right price she could return to California and perhaps point to the Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar on Dec. 1.

“If she doesn’t reach something that makes it worth it, we’ll bring her back to race,” Schlaich said.

Schlaich said he was impressed by Vasilika’s run in the Filly and Mare Turf, calling it “a valiant effort.” He said she may have been a little intimidated being on the inside during the stretch battle with Iridessa.

Schlaich said there are mixed emotions involved with Vasilika in light of trainer Jerry Hollendorfer not being allowed to race or train at Santa Anita due to a ban placed him by The Stronach Group in June. Vasilika was based at Los Alamitos with Hollendorfer, but was saddled by Dan Ward, Hollendorfer’s assistant, who was listed as the trainer of record Saturday.

“If everything was smooth and that June incident didn’t happen, it would not be mixed emotions,” Schlaich said. “That Jerry was left out, that wasn’t very nice.”

Sistercharlie, third in the Filly and Mare Turf as the favorite, was scheduled to ship to Payson Park in South Florida while owner Peter Brant decides whether to race or breed her in 2020, trainer Chad Brown said.