In her seven-race career, the 3-year-old filly Wild Illusion has raced primarily in England, where she won the Group 1 Nassau Stakes on Aug. 2 at Goodwood in her debut against older fillies and mares.
Last fall, Wild Illusion had a successful trip to France, winning the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac on the undercard of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The Prix Marcel Boussac is France’s leading race for 2-year-old fillies.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Yuvetsi, Anonymity, and Skye Diamonds were the first three finishers of the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap on Aug. 12 at Del Mar. One may be bound for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs, pending the outcome of the Grade 3 L.A. Woman Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita.
Their trainers – John Sadler, Richard Mandella, and Bill Spawr – say the BC Filly and Mare Sprint is on their minds, but that a win in the $100,000 L.A. Woman Stakes is necessary to justify the journey.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The picture for the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint figures to clear up significantly after this weekend’s prep action, and that’s very apparent in the field for the $200,000 Indian Summer Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland.
The race, which will award the winner an automatic berth in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, has drawn an overflow and extremely diverse field, including the well-traveled Chelsea Cloisters; two graded stakes-placed colts trying turf for the first time in Nitrous and Strike Silver; and a maiden who figures logically in All About It.
ELMONT, N.Y. – She is a seven-time stakes winner, earned more than $1.3 million, and, for a 21-month period earlier in her career, she was literally unbeatable.
The only thing Fourstar Crook hasn’t done in her career is win a Grade 1 race, something her connections hope she can check off the list in Sunday’s $500,000 Flower Bowl Stakes at Belmont Park.
“She’s the poor man’s Lady Eli,” Fourstar Crook’s part-owner Michael Dubb said about the gutsy filly who has 10 wins and 3 seconds from 14 starts and was voted the New York-bred champion female turf horse of 2017.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Through 126 runnings over 130 years, the Futurity on this circuit was a dirt race won by such luminaries as Man o’ War, Citation, Secretariat, and Affirmed. The recent history of the race, however, has not been quite as rich. Only twice in the 16 runnings of the Futurity held this century has the race gone to post with more than six runners.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mark Casse had a sneaky feeling that he rather enjoys running 2-year-olds in the Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland – but didn’t know exactly why until informed he has won the last three runnings.
“Is that right?” Casse said. “I didn’t even realize we’d done that. Well, while we’re at it, let’s just go ahead and make it four.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A 3-year-old filly hasn’t won the Spinster Stakes over a dirt track at Keeneland since Take Charge Lady in 2002. That’s ignoring three such winners during the Polytrack era (2006-13), but the fact remains older mares generally have dominated for much of the race’s 62-year history.
X Y Jet was back on the work tab and back in consideration for the Breeders' Cup Sprint after working five furlongs in 58 seconds Thursday morning at Monmouth Park, according to trainer Jorge Navarro. Navarro moved the drill up two days after having originally scheduled the work for Saturday.
"He was supposed to go an easy half, instead he went 21, 33, 45, 58, and galloped out in 1:11 then came back to the barn like nothing happened," said Navarro. "He's still day to day, and we'll let him tell us if he can make the Sprint, but right now I think we can pull it off."
ARCADIA, Calif. – Sharp Samurai lost any chance for a win in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 19 when he was interfered with in the final furlong. There was some consolation when Sharp Samurai was promoted from third to second after the disqualification of Fly to Mars.
ELMONT, N.Y. – The last two words of the comment in the Equibase chart for the eighth race at Gulfstream Park on Aug. 25 summed up perfectly what Trophy Chaser had just done.
“Powerful performance.”
Trophy Chaser rolled to a 15 3/4-length victory in the slop, running six furlongs in 1:09.50 and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 96. It was the highest figure earned by a juvenile before Game Winner earned a 97 winning last Saturday’s Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita.
