LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Grade 2, $400,000 Jessamine Stakes on opening day at Keeneland offers an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Oct. 31 at Del Mar. The race is not only a chance for 2-year-old fillies to step up on the turf – the majority entered do not yet have stakes experience – but for some trainers to continue pursuing career milestones, as well.
A third of the horses in the main body of this field – 14 were entered and 12 may run – are are sent out by trainers who have not yet had Breeders’ Cup starters – Carolyncaroline for Lindsay Schultz, Diablo Shiraz for John Ennis, Red Beretta for Michel Douaihy, and Victor Help Me for Concepcion Torres.
“I’m privileged to be associated with horses that can run in these stakes, especially at Keeneland,” said Ennis, who will saddle stable star Epic Ride in the meet’s richest race, the Grade 1, $1.25 million Coolmore Turf Mile, on Saturday. “Look, every trainer wants to do that, to improve every year. I’m just grateful, to be honest, to have them.”
There is room for a breakthrough for a developing filly and her connections here. Time to Dream, trained by Todd Pletcher, is the morning-line favorite as the only prior stakes winner in this field. She won her first two starts at Saratoga, including the P.G. Johnson Stakes at the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Jessamine. However, she is marooned in post 12.
The only other horse in the field with more than a maiden win is Mackinac, the second choice on the morning line off an allowance score. She is making her first start beyond 6 1/2 furlongs.
Red Beretta, the most experienced member of this field, was beaten just a head by the now-sidelined Meringue in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies on Aug. 31, finishing ahead of seven others in this field. That race was a one-turn mile but likely played closer to this 1 1/16 miles due to the undulations of that turf course.
“I knew she’d be good in that race,” Douaihy said. “She’s a filly that wants long on grass.”
Red Beretta will have plenty of speed in here to set up her closing run – Lit Ship, Carolyncaroline, Agressive Lime, Victor Help Me, and Imaginationthelady all want to be forwardly placed.
Diablo Shiraz finished fourth behind Loveliest – another entrant here, who was seventh in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies with a troubled stretch run – in a one-mile maiden July 5 at Ellis Park, an effort when she was not at her best, according to Ennis. She had a poor scope following the race, and mucus in her windpipe needed to be cleared up.
“She ran the first time, and she scoped dirty,” Ennis said. “She was a little bit green and got a rough trip.”
Her issues resolved, Diablo Shiraz came back for a maiden win at that testing mile at Kentucky Downs.
“She’s gonna be a longshot, but the filly’s done nothing wrong,” Ennis said. “I think she’s gonna love the distance. She looks bigger and stronger now since Kentucky Downs, and she’s training nice and fresh.”
Infinite Sky, who, along with Aggressive Lime, is trained by Brad Cox, could be a value play. The filly also will benefit from the speed in this race to set up her late run and has good seasoning at longer distances. She was fourth on debut going 1 1/16 miles at Ellis Park, then won at the mile at Kentucky Downs.
– additional reporting by Steve Andersen
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