The old Newspaperofrecord ready for Distaff Turf Mile

The last time Newspaperofrecord came to Churchill Downs, it was Derby week, she was the odds-on favorite in a graded turf stakes – and she lost.

That was May 2019, and this highly irregular Kentucky Derby week of 2020 brings forth similar circumstances. Newspaperofrecord is the 4-5 morning-line favorite for the Grade 2, $500,000 Distaff Turf Mile. This time, she probably will not lose.

In the Edgewood Stakes in May 2019, Newspaperofrecord went off the 1-5 favorite following her awesome 2-year-old campaign of 2018, when she went 3 for 3, the wins all by more than six lengths, and the last of them in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

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The Edgewood marked her first start in six months, and Newspaperofrecord was a shadow of her former self. She was soundly beaten at Churchill by Concrete Rose, lost to her Chad Brown-trained stablemate Cambier Parc in the Wonder Again, and ran up the track in the Belmont Oaks Invitational before her connections took her out of training.

This year, the 2-year-old version of Newspaperofrecord has resurfaced. In the Interncontinental Stakes on June 6, her first start in 11 months, Newspaperofrecord coasted to a four-length win, earning a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure. She ran even better June 27 in the Grade 1 Just a Game, controlling the race from the outset en route a three-length score.

Brown, who trains Newspaperofrecord for Klaravich Stables, gave the filly a summer break preparing for a potentially ambitious fall series of races beginning this Saturday. If all goes well, Newspaperofrecord moves on to the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland, after which, provided her form holds, she’ll be considered for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, also at Keeneland.

“Physically, she looks better than ever,” Brown said. “We thought this race made a lot of sense timing-wise and with how she’s run at Churchill.”

Since her regular jockey, Irad Ortiz, has stayed in New York, Javier Castellano rides Newspaperofrecord for the first time. His task should be straightforward: The filly likes to take the lead, relax, then blast home. Phil D’Amato, trainer of Harmless, the race’s only other front-runner, said he’s leaning toward scratching from the Distaff Turf Mile in favor of a Kentucky Downs race next week. Newspaperofrecord will be formidable regardless; loose on the lead, it’s hard to see her losing.

The horse with a tiny upset chance is Juliet Foxtrot, but even her very best performance doesn’t reach Newspaperofrecord’s peak. Keeneland’s spring meet cancellation disrupted plans for Juliet Foxtrot’s 2020 campaign, and she was off her game making her seasonal debut May 30 in the Mint Julep at Churchill, finishing sixth as the 3-2 favorite. Her Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in July was much better. There, she chased Rushing Fall and Jolie Olimpica, the one-two finishers, all the way around the course, finishing third with a 101 Beyer. But Newspaperofrecord is as good as either of those opponents.

“This is a race we’ve been pointing for,” said trainer Brad Cox. “She ran a little aggressive off the layoff; much better last time. She looks phenomenal. She shouldn’t have to be five lengths behind [Newspaperofrecord]. I think she can sit right off her.”

Cox also sends out Beau Recall, who won the 2019 Distaff Turf Mile by more than three lengths, the best race of her career from a visual and Beyer Speed Figure perspective. Beau Recall ran her “A” race in the Just a Game, but she is a one-run closer, and even a strong finish only got her within three lengths of Newspaperofrecord. She finished fifth as the 6-5 favorite last out in the Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Del Mar.

Beau Recall “had no pace to run at and a wide trip, two things you can’t have in a good grass race,” Cox said.

Cox said the mare has come back well from that trip, but in terms of race shape, she’s up against it again Saturday.

Daddy Is a Legend flopped on soft Ellis Park turf Aug. 2, her first start in eight months and first race for trainer Rusty Arnold. She has a much better race than that in her but was not quite even Beau Recall’s equal in 2019, and probably is no match for the favorite here.