Jaywalk wires field in Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – John Servis was grinning ear-to-ear at Churchill Downs – just like when he was enjoying a couple of other victories that have come to define a lifetime of training racehorses.

Servis had just sent out Jaywalk to a dominant performance Friday in the 35th running of the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, giving the 60-year-old trainer a triumph under the twin spires of a significance exceeded only by Smarty Jones winning the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Cathryn Sophia capturing the 2016 Kentucky Oaks.

“I’ve been very fortunate to bring loaded guns here,” said Servis, a licensed trainer since 1984. “I’ve brought three really nice horses and they’ve just got the job done.”

In a 1 1/16-mile race filled with speed, Jaywalk and jockey Joel Rosario went to the early lead under the wire the first time, out-pacing Serengeti Empress and the remainder of a field of 10. She maintained a measured advantage when settling nicely down the backstretch, and once they straightened for home, Jaywalk pulled away with authority, prevailing by 5 1/2 lengths. She returned $13 to win as fourth choice after finishing in 1:43.62 over a fast track.

“It was the perfect trip,” said Rosario. “She broke and she wanted the lead.”

“Joel said the filly took her to the front,” said Servis. “He said he felt after a couple of jumps that she brought her ‘A’ game. She really had running on her mind.”

Restless Rider, the 3-1 second choice, loomed boldly at the quarter pole before settling for second, another half-length before Vibrance, a 35-1 shot. Another 3 1/4 lengths back in fourth was Bellafina, the 19-10 favorite.

“Going around the turn, I could see I had Bellafina,” said Brian Hernandez Jr., who rode Restless Rider. “But I was worried about the filly that beat us just going on with it like she did.”

Jaywalk, a steel-gray filly by the young sire Cross Traffic, is owned by the Cash Is King LLC of Chuck Zacney and partners and the D J Stable LLC of Lois and Leonard Green. Both ownership groups have been prominent for years in the mid-Atlantic region.

“This is the pinnacle for us,” said Lois Green. “We are so very happy.”

Jaywalk was bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. She now has won four straight races since finishing second in her June debut at Monmouth Park, with her final prep for the Breeders’ Cup resulting in a 5 3/4-length triumph in the Grade 1 Frizette on Oct. 7 at Belmont Park. The Juvenile Fillies was her first attempt around two turns.

“I was quietly confident,” said Servis. “I felt very good about the way she was coming into the race. I wasn’t worried about the distance. I just felt like it was a really solid group of 2-year-old fillies and she was going to have to run to beat them.”

Jaywalk earned 20 qualifying points toward the 145th Kentucky Oaks, to be run next May 4. She will prepare for the Oaks at Servis’s winter base at the Palm Meadows training center in South Florida.

The runner-up finish for Restless Rider kept trainer Kenny McPeek winless in the Breeders’ Cup, although he now has six seconds and eight thirds from 30 starters. McPeek’s 31st starter, Signalman, was to run later Friday in the Juvenile.

After the top four, the order was Cassies Dreamer, Sippican Harbor, Serengeti Empress, Splashy Kisses, Reflect, and Baby Nina.

The $2 exacta (7-4) paid $50.40, the $1 trifecta (7-4-3) returned $387.60, and the 10-cent superfecta (7-4-3-10) was worth $149.03.