Championship honors will also be waiting at the finish line. Through the years, 31 of the 35 Juvenile Fillies winners have been named champion 2-year-old filly at the . The 1 1/16-mile event truly is a championship-defining race.
Who are the key contenders for the 2019 Juvenile Fillies? Here’s how I see the field shaping up.
Wicked Whisper
After she won her debut at Saratoga in decisive fashion, Wicked Whisper stepped up in class for the Frizette Stakes (G1) at Belmont and dominated on the front end. She never gave her rivals a fighting chance and pulled away to score by 2 3/4 lengths. The 87 Beyer speed figure she posted was solid, and Wicked Whisper’s frontrunning speed could be a major asset over the often speed-favoring main track at Santa Anita. The Frizette has been a productive prep for the Juvenile Fillies in recent years, producing five of the last dozen winners.
Bast
Bast is the most accomplished 2-year-old filly in training, with victories in the Del Mar Debutante (G1) and Chandelier Stakes (G1). Her Chandelier effort was more workmanlike than brilliant, but Bast wasn’t fully cranked for the race and still managed to run down the pace-setting graded stakes winner Comical to prevail by a neck. A sharper effort—more like her romp in the Debutante—could be on the horizon for the Breeders’ Cup.
British Idiom
British Idiom left no doubt about her superiority in the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, where she swooped to the lead at the top of the stretch and powered clear to defeat Spinaway Stakes (G1) winner Perfect Alibi by 6 1/2 lengths. While British Idiom benefited from pouncing into decelerating fractions, the ease of her triumph over a proven grade 1 winner shouldn’t be underestimated.
Comical
Winner of the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) at Saratoga, Comical ran too good to lose in the Chandelier at Santa Anita, where she fought with Bast through the stretch. You can argue her proximity to Bast was partly the result of Bast regressing out of the Del Mar Debutante, where the two fillies were separated by 9 1/4 lengths, but it’s also possible Comical upped her game while stretching out around two turns for the first time.
Donna Veloce
Donna Veloce was a powerful, unchallenged debut winner at Santa Anita on September 28, when she set the pace in a 6 1/2-furlong sprint and pulled clear easily to win by 9 1/4 lengths. Her fast final time of 1:16.22 translated to a 91 Beyer, the highest assigned to any 2-year-old filly so far this season. But Santa Anita played in favor of speed opening weekend, so Donna Veloce benefited from a track bias. The Juvenile Fillies—her stakes and two-turn debut—will be a much tougher spot.
