One cost $140,000 as a yearling at Keeneland in 2022, the other $75,000 at the same auction a year later.
With those bargain buys, cousins George Messina and Mike Lee had acquired two fillies in Stellify and Fionn who this fall rate among the best American chances for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
The fillies, trained by Brad Cox, have both earned more than $1.4 million this year.
“You do it once and you catch lightning in a bottle,” Messina said Wednesday. “Once is a miracle, but to do it twice? It’s changed our whole outlook on everything.”
Messina, 59, owns a restaurant and catering business in New Orleans. Lee is from Spanish Fort, Ala. They co-own Stellify with Elements Racing.
Fionn has won four stakes this year, including the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks, and is booked to start in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland against 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Oct. 11 at Keeneland.
“We’re looking forward to that,” Messina said. “It’s a prestigious race.”
The outcome of the $800,000 QEII will determine whether Fionn goes to Del Mar.
“She has to run really well,” Messina said. “If she runs a big race, it’s under consideration.”
Stellify has won her last four starts, the latest of which was the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon, a $1.8 million race at 1 5/16 miles on turf Sept. 6. Stellify won an allowance race at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Kentucky Downs nine days earlier.
“We always knew she had talent,” Messina said. “She took a while to get going. Brad kept telling us, ‘Be patient.’ ”
Fionn and Stellify are among a group of American contenders for the BC Filly and Mare Turf led by She Feels Pretty, Bellezza, and La Mehana.
She Feels Pretty won the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine in August. Bellezza and La Mehana were first and fourth in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl Stakes on Aug. 30 at Saratoga. La Mehana won the Grade 2 Glens Falls Stakes at 1 1/2 miles by nine lengths on July 27 at Saratoga.
Several candidates for the BC Filly and Mare Turf are possible starters in Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Opera for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles at Longchamp in Paris, notably Cinderella’s Dream, Diamond Rain, See the Fire, Survie, and Wemightakedlongway.
Cinderella’s Dream, trained by Charlie Appleby, was second by a half-length to Moira in the 2024 BC Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar.
The fillies Aventure and Minnie Hauk lead future-book betting for Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at 1 1/2 miles against males at Longchamp. Minnie Hauk, supplemented to the $5.86 million Arc de Triomphe on Wednesday for $140,800, is trained by Aidan O’Brien.
Minnie Hauk holds a fees-paid berth to the BC Filly and Mare Turf courtesy of her win in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks in England in August.
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