Princess of Sylmar galloped Thursday morning in advance of her bid to win her
ninth race in 11 starts in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
The three-year-old filly’s only loss since last November, when she broke her
maiden in her second start by 19 lengths at Penn National, came in a
distant second-place finish behind Close Hatches in the Gazelle at Belmont on April
13.
“I think that was a tactical error on the trainer’s part.
Close Hatches was the only speed in the race the way I saw it and I told
(jockey) Javier (Castellano) that I didn’t want her to get away and to make sure
to put some pressure on her early in the race,” trainer Todd Pletcher said.
“It
took Princess of Sylmar out of her running style a little bit. We learned from
it and we subsequently haven’t done that.”
The Majestic Warrior filly has impressed her trainer with her
consistent excellence in every start.
“It’s one of those things. She’s just a talented, gifted
filly,” he stated. “She’s got an exceptional turn of foot on the dirt. She has
the ability to turn off at the beginning of the race and relax and deliver a
good kick. What makes her good is all of those things.”
The Pletcher-trained Authenticity also galloped Thursday
morning for her scheduled start in the Distaff.
The six-year-old mare hasn’t finished worse than second in six
consecutive graded appearances, including runner-up showings behind
two-time defending Distaff champion Royal Delta and Beholder. Yet, the daughter
of Quiet American has trained somewhat under the radar at Santa Anita.
“In this field, if you’re not Royal Delta, Princess of
Sylmar or Beholder, you could get overlooked,” Pletcher said. “There’s a couple
of exceptional fillies in their like Close Hatches and Authenticity that if
they’re able to run big races, it wouldn’t be shocking.”
Pletcher said that trainer Bill Mott’s double
representation by Royal Delta and Close Hatches adds intrigue to the Distaff.
“To me it’s very much a jockey’s race. I think it’s going
to be interesting how Royal Delta’s going to be ridden and how Beholder is
ridden, and how Close Hatches is ridden. I know it can be a little bit tricky
when you’re in that spot as a trainer when you get two fillies with similar
running styles — how they are going to ride Close Hatches vs. Royal Delta.
There’s probably going to be some cat and mouse going on.
“I think there are five of the six that wouldn’t be a
surprise, based on their resumes. Then, there’s always that longshot sixth one
(Street Girl).”
Hall of Fame trainer Bill
Mott’s tandem of Close Hatches and two-time defending champion Royal Delta
galloped on the main track Thursday morning at Santa Anita Park.
With Royal Delta as the headliner, the Distaff is again one
of the most eagerly anticipated races on the Breeders’ Cup weekend program.
Royal Delta, who led from start-to-finish last year, suffered a rare loss in her
most recent start, finishing two lengths behind Princess of Sylmar in the
Beldame at Belmont Park.
“At this time last year it was advertised as one of the
most competitive races and one of the best races and it looks like it could be
again this year,” Mott said. “There are three top three-year-old fillies in there
and (Royal Delta) is a two-time defending Breeders’ Cup champ. She seems to
be doing well, she’s had a good season and hopefully we can top it off here.
We’re hoping for another big race.”
Mott noted that Royal Delta has a habit of bouncing back
from her losses. He said that he deliberately lightened up on Royal Delta’s
training prior to the Beldame, which may have contributed to the loss.
“She got beat on the day, but she’s always been one who can
come back and run a big race after she’s had a defeat. We’ve been beaten on
several different occasions, but it’s not unusual to see her come back and see
her run a huge race after finishing second.”
Since the Beldame loss, Mott has allowed Royal Delta to
return to her spirited workouts. She has turned in three straight bullet works,
the fastest of the day at the distance, and the veteran trainer says she is in
top form.
“Is she the one to beat? Absolutely,” he asserted. “I’m not
saying she can’t be beat, but she is the one to beat. From our eyes, we could
look at the others who are ones to beat, like Beholder. You could look at two or
three of them in there. Then you’ve got Close Hatches flying under the radar.
Nobody cares about her.”
Royal Delta is bidding to match Goldikova’s Breeders’ Cup
record of three consecutive victories.
“She looked great on the track this morning and it seems
like she is doing well,” Mott added. “It would be a pretty feather in everybody’s
cap to join Goldikova as one of the two horses to win the same Breeders’ Cup
race three times.”
The Henny Hughes filly Beholder galloped 1 1/4 miles
Thursday morning at 7 a.m. (PDT) under exercise rider David Nuesch as trainer Richard
Mandella and owner B. Wayne Hughes of Spendthrift Farm looked on from the Santa
Anita apron.
The sophomore miss — last year’s champion juvenile filly — received a four-month break in the middle of
the year before being brought back to racing in September to ready for the
Breeders’ Cup. When she returned, Mandella united Beholder with a new rider, the comebacking
veteran Gary Stevens.
“We won’t do a lot of talking in the paddock before the
race,” Mandella said in reference to his rider. “We’ve talked plenty about her
already. Gary will give her her head away from there, find a good spot for her
and then go on from there. If she makes the lead, that’s good. If she’s away a
bit slow and doesn’t, that’s good, too. She can handle it and so can he.”
Rontos Racing Stable’s Street Girl galloped 1
1/2 miles with exercise rider Edmundo Cedeno up for trainer Manny Azpurua ahead
of the Distaff.
“She just went very easy this morning,” said Ronald
Sanchez, head of Rontos Racing.
Sanchez has an idea of how he would like to see Friday’s
Distaff unfold for Street Girl.
“I’d like to see her sit back behind the speed, maybe 10
lengths back,” he said. “At the half-mile pole she should start moving and kick
it in at the three-eighths pole.”
Street Girl will be ridden by Angel Castillo, who was
aboard the three-year-old Street Hero filly in her most recent start when third
in the Cotillion.
“She had a problem at the gate and got so far back,” explained Castillo, who will be riding in his first Breeders’ Cup.
“If she has no problem Friday, she will not be that far back. She is a good
filly, but this race, it is not easy.”
Castillo, who also will ride Indian Jones in the Marathon,
has ridden once before at Santa Anita.
“I came out to ride a stake last year,” Castillo said,
adding with a laugh, “I do good; the horse not so good.”
So, on Friday, who will perform better?
“Both of us,” Castillo said.
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