Juliet Foxtrot all the way in Modesty Handicap
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Juliet Foxtrot is loving the American lifestyle.
Bred in England and campaigned there for her first eight starts by the Juddmonte Farms of Khalid Abdullah, Juliet Foxtrot was imported to the U.S. over the winter and now has wins in her first three starts on this side of the Atlantic. She captured her first stakes race Saturday at Arlington when she led all the way in the Grade 3, $150,000 Modesty Handicap under Florent Geroux.
Remember Daisy, the prospective pacesetter in a race lacking speed, was hampered at the start and raced from well off the lead, leaving the front end to Juliet Foxtrot. A hold-up horse in England, Juliet Foxtrot pinned her ears and tried to get a little strong with Geroux coming into the first turn, but the jockey got his mount switched off and slowed the pace to get a half-mile in 49.01, leaving Juliet Foxtrot with plenty for the stretch run.
Geroux called on her at the three-sixteenths poles, and Juliet Foxtrot kicked, seeing off pace-pressing favorite Simply Breathless and running out to a 1 3/4-length victory over Vexatious. Simply Breathless finished third, winning a photo with Remember Daisy.
“It looked on paper like there was no speed,” said Geroux. “She’s a nice filly, she ran well today, and hopefully we have more to look forward to.”
Juliet Foxtrot earned free entry into the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes here next month, but Sistercharlie and whomever else trainer Chad Brown brings from New York will offer a different kind of challenge. Still, Brad Cox, who started training for Juddmonte in 2017, did his job for an operation that often breeds its racemares and got not just a stakes win for another of them but a graded tally.
The winning time for the 1 3/16 miles on firm turf over the outer course in use Saturday was 1:54, and Juliet Foxtrot paid $5.60 as the second choice. She carried 115 pounds, four fewer than 119-pound highweight Simply Breathless, who had won the Grade 3 Wilshire at Santa Anita in her most recent start.
Juliet Foxtrot is a 4-year-old filly by Dansili out of Kilo Alpha, by King’s Best, and she ran her record to 11-4-0-0, a mark padded by her move to America.
