Super Filly Miss Timoshenko Pulls Off Rare Triple

Oh my! It might be a while before you see this again. What Miss Timoshenko accomplished on Saturday, in fact, may never be seen again, and it would take a really special two year old filly to do what she had just done.

There was Pop Up Sprinkler, being hard ridden on the front end, leading the field by well over five lengths going into the turn for home in Saturday’s Grade 1 Juvenile Filly in Japan.

It looked like she had an insurmountable lead, and, with each stride and each roar from the crowd, it appeared Pop Up Sprinkler was well on her way to springing a major upset over Breeders’ Bowl Juvy Turf Filly winner Miss Timoshenko and a quality field of two year old fillies on Saturday.

Then, quite suddenly, the one-mile turf race fell apart for Pop Up Sprinkler.

And Miss Timoshenko pounced, using a ground-saving trip and displaying a stunning turn of foot in mid-stretch to slip through on the rail and easily win the third running of the $1 million Grade 1 Juvenile Filly by 2 ¼ lengths over a hard-charging Crowded Mind.

Miss Timoshenko did something Saturday no filly has ever done. She became the first filly to ever beat the boys in the Golden Shoe, and then turn around and win the Breeders’ Bowl Juvy Turf Filly and the Juvenile Filly in Japan. Remember this is only the third running of this race, but it may be a very, very long time before you see a filly accomplish this particular triple again.

“I would be surprised if any filly can repeat that particular triple,” said her Aussie-born trainer, Mick, who owns Briant Breeding and Racing Empire. “The Golden Shoe is relatively new, however there will be greater interest in the race from now on. As a trainer, holding my nerve and not being tempted to run more in between the run before the Golden Shoe and before the Breeders’ Bowl was the hardest. Dual eight-week breaks made it hard this season.”

With the win on Saturday, Miss Timoshenko also joined 2010 Two Year Old Turf Filly Of The Year S.J.’s Carsonado as the only fillies to ever pull off the Breeder’s Bowl Juvy Turf Filly/Juvenile Filly double.

And to top it all off, Miss Timoshenko’s winning margin was the largest margin of victory in the history of the Grade 1 Juvenile Filly, and she smashed the Juvenily Filly stakes record on Saturday.

“It’s been an amazing honour to own her,” said Mick, who owns Briant Breeding and Racing Empire and the Canadian-bred daughter of North Light. “and a ride I do not want to stop.”

For Miss Timoshenko, it has indeed been an amazing ride in 2011. It was the filly’s seventh win in eight lifetime starts, and her $600,000 winner’s share of the purse upped her career earnings to an astounding $3.3 million.

“I knew she was special, when she won the Grade 1 Golden Shoe against the lads,” said the Australian-born Mick, “and everything after that is just a bonus.”

The win in Japan Saturday, Miss Timoshenko’s second try at a mile this season, underscored just exactly how special and unique this filly is.

Consider that she started racing in May and in less than two months the daughter of the Danehill mare Hill Not Hillbillies had broken her maiden and notched a couple of listed stakes wins before she started running in graded company.

In her only defeat of the season, she lost by a head bob in her first graded start to The Fijian in the Grade 2 Why You Buggin Stakes in Berkshire in July. “The only loss was because I changed her riding instructions to .90,” said Mick. “More a work, that, but apart from that (loss), it has been awesome.”

Miss Timoshenko followed up her only defeat with her first win against the boys in Newmarket in the Grade 2 July Stakes.

And then, of course, came her Golden Shoe/Breeders’ Bowl Juvy Turf Filly/Juvenile Filly triple. Yes, indeed, it’s been an amazing year for Miss Timoshenko and her Australian trainer, Mick.

“She is the first horse I have owned that I have actually stuck to a plan with,” said Mick. “Actually, I wanted to run her in the St. Cloud at ten furlongs but had to miss it for the Breeders’ Bowl. Usually I would not rest a horse as much as her, as the eight weeks have been painfully slow. But the wait was worth it.”

Not only was the wait worth it, but Miss Timoshenko won the hard way on Saturday, working for every inch of ground the entire way.

She broke rather slowly out of the five hole and dropped back behind the pack and slid quickly over to the rail, content to remain in last place. About three furlongs into the race, she slowly began to pass horses, hugging the rail the whole way.

Meanwhile, Pop Up Sprinkler, who is owned by Shaghar Stables, was blazing on the front end. The Japanese-bred daughter of Daiwa Major who was racing in her native Japan for the first time, was setting fractions of 46.23 for the four furlongs and 1:10.20 for six furlongs.

When Pop Up Sprinkler’s stride began to shorten about a furlong or so from the finish, she was absolutely swamped by Miss Timoshenko and Crowded Mind about half a furlong from the wire. That’s just about the time Miss Timoshenko showed a monstrous late kick to put some daylight between herself and the rest of the field as she crossed the wire.

“She just wants to win,” marveled Mick. “She closes very late, and I continually think she will return (after a race) asking for a layoff, but she is so resilient that she is only a little groggy. I think she will get ten furlongs, and I would love to win an Oaks with her (next year), but as we all know, what are the chances she will run out of sight on a dark night next year? She runs well in Japan, and Australia is my home track, so to win a Oaks at home would be awesome. I believe she has the stamina to do it and is lightly raced, so hopefully she bucks the trend of two year olds flopping as three year olds.”

The New Zealand-bred daughter of Zabeel, Passed Za, also made a late run to finish fourth but just couldn’t quite catch the speedy Pop Up Sprinkler, who finished third behind Miss Timoshenko and Crowded Mind, the terrific Medaglia D’Oro filly owned by Super Stables.

The Flying Wolf, who was unbeaten coming into Saturday’s race, ran a pretty game and even race to finish fifth on Saturday.

Along with all the other incredible things she accomplished Saturday, Miss Timoshenko smashed the Juvenile Filly stakes record of 1:35 3/5 set by S. J.’s Carsonado last year. The first Canadian-bred to ever win this race ran the mile Saturday in 1:35 1/5, while running her second consecutive triple digit speed figure race (101).

Her jockey, K. Ledwith, seems to be the master of this race, winning it for the second consecutive year. Ledwith finished second aboard Chef Pepin in the first running of this race in 2009.

Miss Timoshenko paid $12.50, $7.60 and $4.60 to her supporters. The exacta of 5-6 with Crowded Mind paid $96.70, and the 5-6-14 trifecta with Pop Up Sprinkler third paid $934.50.