Breeders’ Cup Distaff: 2020 Brisnet Speed Rating Report

Eleven fillies and mares have been pre-entered for the $2 million Distaff (G1), which will be carded as the 10TH race on the Breeders’ Cup Saturday program.

The cast includes a trio of 3-year-old fillies – Harvest Moon, Harvey’s Lil Goil, and Swiss Skydiver – and sophomores have held their own against elders in the 1 1/8-mile race, winning four of the last nine editions. However, Harvey’s Lil Goil does have first preference in the Filly & Mare Turf (G1).

Post positions will be drawn Monday. Let’s take a look at the last three Brisnet Speed ratings earned by Distaff pre-entries:

Ollie’s Candy and Swiss Skydiver are the only females to earn triple-digit Speed ratings in the last three prep races. Horologist, Monomoy Girl, and Valiance have reached the triple-digit threshold twice.

Dunbar Road and Harvest Moon are the only runners that failed to receive at least a 100 Speed rating.

Possible favorite Monomoy Girl owns the best number, generating a 111 figure two starts back. Her top rival, Swiss Skydiver, is close with a pair of 109 ratings.

Distaff winners

Here are the previous three Speed ratings for the last 10 Distaff winners:

Every Distaff winner in the last decade owned at least one triple-digit Speed rating. Stopchargingmaria (100) and Untapable (101) barely reached the threshold.

Royal Delta entered the 2002 Distaff with an imposing set of Speed ratings (105-106-106), but Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver have run faster than previous Distaff winners in prep races, with Beholder (107) producing the best number in 2016.

Compared to winners from the last decade, it’s a fast group for the 2020 Distaff.