Ward high on Sunset Glow ahead of BC Juvenile Fillies Turf

Trainer Wesley Ward is thrilled with the way Sunset Glow is heading into the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

The Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante winner could end up being favored in the one-mile race Oct. 31 at Santa Anita. She won the Debutante and the Grade 2 Sorrento on Polytrack, but she is more than capable on turf. Sunset Glow won a maiden special weight race at Belmont going five furlongs over a good turf course June 6 and then finished second to Cursory Glance in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot two weeks later. Cursory Glance, a Group 1 winner, is ranked among the top 2-year-old fillies in Europe.

Following Sunset Glow’s win in the Debutante, Ward shipped her to Keeneland, where she has been working up a storm. In her latest five-furlong move Oct. 9, she worked alongside her stablemate Emotional Kitten, a 4-year-old filly who is a Grade 2 winner with $452,503 in earnings.

“Sunset Glow was the better of the two, and Emotional Kitten came back to win an allowance race at Keeneland on Sunday,” said Ward. “She really couldn’t be doing any better. Keeneland has the best turf course in the world. It never gets hard, and it’s perfect for training a horse up to a race. Plus, the weather is a lot cooler than in Southern California. She will be dead fit, and she’ll have a fresh mind for the race.”

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Quality Rocks set for BC

Trainer Bill Mott said Quality Rocks came out of her second-place finish behind Rainha Da Bateria in the Win and You’re In, Grade 3, $150,000 Jessamine Stakes in good shape and would be pointed to the Juvenile Fillies Turf. It was her first start for Mott and her first race on grass. Quality Rocks went into the race undefeated in two starts over synthetic tracks. In her previous race, she won the $100,000 Arlington Washington Lassie Stakes at Arlington Park.

“We liked her race in the Jessamine,” said Mott. “It was a good, steady performance.”

Quality Rocks figures to take a big step forward in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. She was going around two turns for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile Jessamine, and she held on well after being the closest horse to an extremely fast pace set by Cool Comfort.

“The Breeders’ Cup race is a bit shorter, and she might be better off running over firmer turf at Santa Anita,” said Mott.

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Sivoliere in the mix

Add Sivoliere to Chad Brown’s list of potential starters, which includes Lady Eli, Tammy the Torpedo, and Partisan Politics.

Sivoliere is coming off a third-place finish going about seven furlongs in the Group 3 Prix du Calvados at Deauville on Aug. 23. The Irish-bred filly won 3 of 5 starts in France.

Since Sivoliere arrived in Brown’s stable, she has had three works over the inner turf course at Belmont beginning Sept. 28.

“She is training well, and we’re certainly looking at the race for her,” said Brown.

Brown won the inaugural running of the Juvenile Fillies Turf with Maram in 2008.