Mission Impassible on Grade 1 quest in Matriarch

At most, the 3-year-old filly Mission Impassible is scheduled to have two more starts before she is sent to France to be bred in early 2019. There is just enough time for a career-defining Grade 1 win, perhaps as early as Sunday’s $300,000 Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares at Del Mar.

The Matriarch Stakes is run at a mile on turf, ideal conditions for Mission Impassible, a Group 2 winner at a mile on turf in France in June and the runner-up in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland on Oct. 13 in her American debut.

By Galileo, Mission Impassible was trained by Jean-Claude Rouget of France through the Queen Elizabeth II Cup before joining trainer Rodolphe Brisset’s stable in Kentucky. Owned by the partnership of Al Attiyah, Mohamed Fahad, and Haras d’Etreham, Mission Impassible has been a welcome addition to Brisset’s stable, even though she is not expected to stay for very long.

“If she does run really good, we may have one more race,” he said. “The owners want to bring her back to France. They are focused more on the breeding side.

“We’d like to run her a mile and on firm turf. I think we’ll be competitive. It would mean a lot to get our Grade 1 out of the way.”

In the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, Mission Impassible was beaten 1 1/4 lengths by the heavily favored Rushing Fall, who set a moderate pace.

Brisset described Mission Impassible as “fast” and said she has settled into his training plans without difficulty.

“I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “She adapted very quickly. I gave her two weeks galloping and got her on a work pattern. She’s pretty solid.”

Mission Impassible has won 4 of 10 starts and earned $311,814. She raced in traffic and ended up 13th in the Group 1 French 1000 Guineas at a mile at Longchamp in Paris in May, finishing only 3 3/4 lengths behind winner Teppal.

Mission Impassible won the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham against 3-year-old fillies in her next start, at Chantilly in June.

Mission Impassible is one of three 3-year-old fillies among the probable starters for the Matriarch, along with Daddy Is a Legend and Ms Bad Behavior. The other expected runners are Dona Bruja, Excellent Sunset, Fahan Mura, Insta Erma, Luminoso, Mopotism, Quidura, Rymska, Uni, Valadorna and Vasilika.

Vasilika, who is likely to be favored, has won eight consecutive races since April, including graded stakes in her last three starts.