Juveniles clash in Fasig-Tipton Futurity and Debutante

ARCADIA, Calif. – Fillies command the spotlight in both $100,000 stakes for 2-year-olds Saturday at Santa Anita – the Fasig-Tipton Debutante and Fasig-Tipton Futurity.

Two-for-two stakes winner Tom’s Regret faces speedy debut winner Rousing Jewel in the race-3 Debutante, restricted to fillies. The Debutante came up stronger than the race-11 Futurity for either gender. Absolutely Zero, a filly nominated to both stakes after an impressive debut, faces boys as the likely Futurity favorite. Both races are five furlongs.

It’s nothing new for juvenile fillies to face juvenile males, and the Debutante principals already have defeated males. Santa Anita debut winner Tom’s Regret shipped to Churchill Downs to win the Kentucky Juvenile Stakes over nine colts and two fillies. Rousing Jewel wired both-gender juveniles on the Tapeta at Golden Gate Fields in her debut.

:: Win big at Santa Anita: Get DRF Past Performances, Picks, Clocker Reports and Betting Strategies.

“Fillies naturally develop quicker than colts,” said Steve Specht, who trains Rousing Jewel. “We’ll find out what [Rousing Jewel] is made of when she runs into that thing of Periban’s.”

He was referring to Jorge Periban-trained Tom’s Regret, the likely Debutante favorite off her smashing debut and Kentucky stakes win. Tom’s Regret and Rousing Jewel face debut winner E Z Pharis, maiden winners Smokem for You and Paddle On Poly, and first-time starters Stone Silent and Dancing Mo.

Tom’s Regret would be the first North American 2-year-old to win three races if she takes the Debutante, but Rousing Jewel poses a formidable rival. Rousing Jewel shipped from Golden Gate to Santa Anita on Wednesday, and if she reproduces her debut speed might be the one to catch.

“She’s a very fast filly,” Specht said. “The only thing that concerns me is the difference in the track. She’s been training on the Tapeta. I think she’ll handle anything.”

Rousing Jewel flew out of the gate in her debut, a three-length maiden win validated when runner-up Passarando returned to win a maiden race by nearly five. Rousing Jewel, who worked a bullet five furlongs at Golden Gate before shipping to Santa Anita, will be ridden by Abel Cedillo. With a clean break, Rousing Jewel could wire the field.

However, Tom’s Regret also is fast. Her speed belies her composure.

“She’s calm, and does everything right,” Periban said. “Her temperament is so nice; she does everything by herself.”

Since returning from Kentucky, Tom’s Regret has posted three workouts at Santa Anita and benefits from being drawn outside Rousing Jewel. Tyler Baze rides Tom’s Regret.

Absolutely Zero, the only filly entered in the Futurity, is likely to start favored off her 1 3/4-length debut victory. Sired by Nyquist, Absolutely Zero is the first runner produced by Cal-bred stakes winner How About Zero. Mario Gutierrez rides.

Others in the Futurity field include Tahoma, a Justify colt who won a low-rated maiden race first out; second-start Cal-bred maiden winner Midnight Lightning; and Pop d’Oro, a Bolt d’Oro colt whose debut win at Turf Paradise was validated when the runner-up returned to win a stakes race.