Stephanie's Kitten, Emollient clinch spots in Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf

This past Saturday’s Grade 1 preps for the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita helped clarify the picture regarding the leading U.S. prospects.

Stephanie’s Kitten in the Flower Bowl at Belmont and Emollient in the Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita each won as the favorite and earned expense-paid berths in the Filly and Mare Turf.

The runners-up in the two races also proved that they fit in the Breeders’ Cup. Abaco rallied to lose by 1 1/4 lengths in the Flower Bowl, while Parranda tested Emollient to the end in the Rodeo Drive, falling a half-length short.

The $600,000 Flower Bowl, with twice the purse of the Rodeo Drive, was the faster of the two races on a Beyer Speed Figure scale, with Stephanie’s Kitten earning a 98 Beyer, compared with a 95 for Emollient.

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Stephanie’s Kitten’s victory at 6-5 odds in the Flower Bowl, which followed runner-up finishes in the Grade 1 Diana and Beverly D., suggests that she will be the shortest-priced U.S. entrant in the Filly and Mare Turf.

Emollient will be more of a longshot due to erratic form in 2014, although she has been reliable on the quick Santa Anita turf course. She was second on that course in the Grade 1 Gamely in May and a close fourth in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Emollient wore blinkers for the first time in the Rodeo Drive, her 17th start, though the equipment change did not correct her habit of breaking slowly. She was away a step or two behind the rest of the field, though she quickly recovered.

Miss Serendipity was keen in the early running of the Rodeo Drive and faded to finish 10th, beaten more than 18 lengths.

Moulin de Mougin fell leaving the final turn. Her trainer, Richard Mandella, said she escaped injury and still would be pointed toward the Filly and Mare Turf if she trains well in the coming weeks.