Breeders' Cup International Horse Profile: Hello You

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf

After looking like a work in progress over the summer, Hello You put it all together in the Breeders' Cup “Win and You’re In” Rockfel (G2). Up-and-coming trainer David Loughnane, who also has Go Bears Go in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, believes that a Del Mar mission will fit her program just fine ahead of next spring’s 1000 Guineas (G1).

The €350,000 Arqana Select yearling is a three-quarter sister to multiple highweight sprinter Signs of Blessing, who scored his signature win in the 2016 Prix Maurice de Gheest (G1). Both he and Hello You are by Invincible Spirit, and Signs of Blessing is a half-brother to Hello You’s dam, Lucrece (by Pivotal).

Hello You began her career with trainer Ralph Beckett. A 5-1 chance in her debut over Wolverhampton’s Tapeta May 24, Hello You swooped from midpack in an impressive 6 1/2-length rout.

That made Hello You one of the fancies for the Albany (G3) at Royal Ascot, where she went off as the slight second choice at 5-1. But instead of rating kindly, she got a flyer out of the gate and argued the pace that sapped her on the heavy going. Hello You did well in the circumstances to hold second to the rallying 16-1 shot Sandrine.

In their rematch in the Duchess of Cambridge (G2) on good-to-firm at Newmarket, Sandrine followed up this time as the slight favorite. Hello You resented restraint as a stalker, pulling fiercely and refusing to settle. Although she eventually quieted down and moved into contention, her behavior told and she weakened to third.

Her owner, British football agent Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing, opted to switch Hello You to Loughnane. In a “Luck on Sunday” interview, Loughnane explained how the filly, so well behaved at home, would get lit up as soon as she was at the racecourse.

Adding a hood for the Aug. 19 Lowther (G2) at York, she raced too keenly again, then had to maneuver behind a wall of horses to try to find room. Once she did, she failed to make an impact and wound up sixth behind Zain Claudette and Sandrine. Yet the way she stayed on hinted that she was ready to move up to seven furlongs, and Loughnane brought her back just nine days later for that purpose.

The added distance in Goodwood’s Prestige (G3) did produce a better result in fourth, behind Mise en Scene, but Hello You could have been closer with a smoother trip. Buried in midpack from her rail post, she had the gears to take a seam, only to find herself in tight quarters. Hello You regained her poise into third, but lost that spot in the final strides.

Everything came right in the Rockfel, also over seven furlongs, down Newmarket’s Rowley Mile. Finally learning to save her energy for the decisive stage, Hello You tracked the pace well within herself, had nothing but daylight to make her move, and packed a strong punch up the rising ground. The 7-1 chance drove 1 1/2 lengths clear while clocking a brisk 1:23.12. The form was later boosted. Runner-up Cachet went on to finish third in the Fillies’ Mile (G1), and Rockfel third Oscula took the same spot in the Prix Marcel Boussac (G1). Even the fourth, Jumbly, came back to dominate the Radley at Newbury.

As a talented filly on the upgrade, Hello You is a bigger threat at Del Mar than her 10-1 morning line implies. The possible caveat is that the hoopla of Breeders’ Cup Friday will test her inclination to become excitable on raceday. If she relapses to bad habits, either pre-race or on the track, she would compromise her chances of staying the mile. That’s especially significant since past Juvenile Fillies Turf winners have already tried the trip.