Top prospects for BC Juvenile Fillies in Alcibiades, Frizette

The Grade 1 Alcibiades on Friday and the Grade 1 Frizette on Saturday will play pivotal roles in determining who moves on to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

The Alcibiades, at 1 1/16 miles around two turns on Keeneland’s new dirt track, has drawn a competitive field of 13, headed by the undefeated Schuylerville Stakes winner Fashion Alert. The Frizette, at a mile around one turn at Belmont Park, includes early division leader Cavorting, the impressive winner of the Adirondack Stakes.

The winners of each race will earn a fees-paid berth into the Nov. 1 Juvenile Fillies as part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program.

Two of the more difficult fillies to measure in the Frizette are Condo Commando, the 13-length winner of the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga, and Spinaway runner-up By the Moon, who came home six lengths clear of the third-place finisher.

The Spinaway was run in the rain over a sloppy track. As Michelle Nevin, the trainer of By the Moon, put it, “Your horse either loved it or hated it.”

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Condo Commando falls into the first group, as she appeared to skip through the going. But then again, she won her debut by 12 lengths in a $75,000 maiden-claiming race over a fast track. So, was it the track, or is that just her?

“When they win by that far, you have to be surprised, but she was ready to go, and I wasn’t surprised she won,” trainer Rudy Rodriguez said. “I’m sure she moved up in the slop, but it’s hard to say by how much. We’ll have to see what she can do on a fast track.”

That might be the case. As of Wednesday, there was a 60 percent chance of precipitation in the New York area Saturday morning into the afternoon.

Rodriguez said he ran Condo Commando, a $72,000 Keeneland yearling purchase, for a claiming price first time out because “she had some issues at the beginning, and I wanted to put her where we could win.”

He added, “I really only had her about 80 percent ready, and what she did that day was special.”

By the Moon will be a square price in the Frizette and should not be overlooked. She came into the Spinaway off a rallying three-quarter-length maiden victory in her debut at Saratoga. The filly she beat that day, Ring Knocker, came back to finish a close second to Top Decile, who is among the favorites in the Alcibiades. Ring Knocker, also entered in the Frizette, has been almost 10 lengths clear of the third-place finisher in both her starts.

“She ran huge first time out,” Nevin said of By the Moon. “For a 2-year-old to come from behind like that and to come through from between horses ...”

By the Moon is owned by Jay Em Ess Stable and was bred by Samantha Siegel. She is out of By the Light, who won 10 of 20 starts and $885,000 for Jay Em Ess. Nevin used to gallop By the Light when she worked for Rick Dutrow.

“She was a very fast filly,” Nevin said. “She and By the Moon are very like one another; a similar size, same looks, same straightforward personality.”