Mandella still hoping Retro can get into BC Juvenile Fillies Turf

DEL MAR, Calif. – As much as possible, the 2-year-old filly Retro is in normal training at Del Mar this week.

Monday, Retro galloped on the main track, and was schooled in the starting gate and the paddock. The routine is designed to have her ready for Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf – if she can gain a spot in the gate.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2017: Entries, odds, comments, and more

As of Monday morning, Retro was expected to be on the also-eligible list for the Juvenile Fillies Turf. She was excluded from the list of 14 invited runners when pre-entries were announced last week and is likely to be the first alternate should a berth develop before scratch time at 8 a.m. on Friday.

Until then, owner Larry Roth, who races as LNJ Foxwoods, and trainer Richard Mandella, must wait.

“They do take a couple of also-eligibles, so I do have a chance,” Mandella said on Monday morning.

:: Breeders' Cup PPs, Clocker Reports, and more

Retro won her debut in a one-mile maiden race on turf at Del Mar, the same distance as the Juvenile Fillies Turf. She was third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, in the Surfer Girl Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 9. The first two finishers of the Surfer Girl Stakes – Fatale Bere and Moon Dash – were selected for the Juvenile Fillies Turf field.

Retro, by Giant’s Causeway, is still learning about racing, Mandella said. She closed from ninth in the final quarter-mile of the Surfer Girl Stakes.

“I think she’s good,” Mandella said. “Greenness caught up with her the other day. She didn’t have many options for quite a ways. She was a little confused when she had a chance to jump into it and it took a sixteenth of a mile.

“I wouldn’t run if I didn’t think she had a shot.”

The Juvenile Fillies Turf is led by the American graded stakes winners Rushing Fall and Significant Form, both trained by Chad Brown, and Happily, a two-time Group 1 winner in Ireland and France for trainer Aidan O’Brien.