V V's Dream, Brightwork rematched in Alcibiades

V V’s Dream won two of her starts in dominant fashion but lost a third, the Debutante at Ellis Park, to Brightwork. No one yet has beaten Brightwork, and these two fillies top the Grade 1, $600,000 Alcibiades Stakes on Friday at Keeneland.

The Alcibiades drew nine entrants but no more than eight will run; Emery is being redirected to the Frizette in New York. Her trainer, Brad Cox, has a second horse, Alpine Princess, who will be third or fourth choice depending on how bettors treat the Todd Pletcher-trained Candied.

Pletcher also runs Wine On Tap, the only horse in the field with experience around two turns. The 1 1/16-mile Alcibiades is a key Breeders’ Cup prep and is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, its winner earning automatic fees-paid entry into the Juvenile Fillies.

V V’s Dream is by Mitole, a top-class sprinter, and out of the Tapit mare Quay, a turf sprinter during her racing career. Ignore the pedigree and focus on the individual, who stretched out to a one-turn mile Sept. 16 and won the Pocahontas at Churchill Downs by almost nine lengths.

V V’s Dream has galloped out like a route horse in all three of her starts, including her half-length loss to Brightwork as a 3-10 favorite on July 2. V V’s Dream broke a half-step slow from an inside post and played catch-up that day as Brightwork briefly got away from her in upper stretch. V V’s Dream closed the gap late but ran out of ground.

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Trainer Kennny McPeek, who won his first Alcibiades in 2000 and seeks his sixth Friday, took V V’s Dream to Saratoga never intending to run there.

“She had an easy month of July. We felt like running her through the summer can take a lot of juice out of these 2-year-olds and could compromise her in the fall. We were looking for her to go long,” McPeek said.

V V’s Dream debuted early, coasting to an easy five-furlong maiden win May 19 at Churchill, but the filly doesn’t race like a typically precocious 2-year-old. She rated well off the pace and rallied sharply in her first start and did the same thing in the Pocahontas. Ahead by 2 1/2 lengths at the stretch call, she was up by 8 3/4 lengths at the finish while jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. barely moved, V V’s Dream galloping out some 20 lengths in front.

“You don’t have to press the button until you want to. She’s got a great mind. She does everything easily,” said McPeek.

Brightwork doesn’t go as easily as V V’s Dream (her left front leg paddles noticeably) but has done nothing wrong in four starts, winning an April maiden race at Keeneland and three stakes, with the Grade 3 Adirondack and Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga following the Debutante.

“I’m 100 percent confident about two turns,” trainer John Ortiz said of Brightwork, who got seven furlongs winning the Spinaway by a half-length over heavily favored Ways and Means. “She always has more in the tank. I use a monitoring device that measures how quickly she recovers from her workouts and her stride length. All the data says she’s going to be a two-turn horse. Just to look at the filly you can tell. She’s not just a speedball. She listens to her rider’s cues.”

Her rider for the third straight race is Irad Ortiz Jr., who should wind up on the lead with Brightwork, a daughter of Outwork.

Pletcher trained Outwork, and in Candied he brings a second-time starter with upside to the Alcibiades, a race Pletcher never has won. Candied, by Candy Ride, debuted over six furlongs Aug. 20 at Saratoga, closing from fifth a quarter-mile out to get up by three-quarters of a length. Luis Saez rode the filly hard in upper stretch but Candied won with her ears up, and while her dam was a sprinter Candied is a solid route candidate.

“She’s giving up some experience to some really nice fillies, but she’s always given us the impression she’d like more distance,” Pletcher said.

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Wine On Tap is too slow on Beyer Speed Figures and lost the one-mile Sorority at Monmouth Park last out because she pulled too hard in the early stages. Her 113 TimeformUS early pace figure suggests she’ll press Brightwork.

Alpine Princess had a poor start finishing third in her Saratoga debut before winning a seven-furlong maiden race there.

“She had good enough works to take her to Saratoga, but she’s been telling us she doesn’t really want to sprint,” Cox said.

Alys Beach was a well-beaten fourth in the Spinaway while turning in the race’s fastest final furlong, 12.95, and she should improve racing two turns. Shimmering Allure and Crazy Cami round out the field.

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