This 2024 renewal of the $1.5-million Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Fillies (G1) is set for Saturday with a full field of promising fillies entered in the 1 1\/16-mile race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gowans’ Fun One<\/strong> (post 12, 7\/1) enters off a romping win on a good track in September’s The Darley (G1) in which the daughter of Good Magic closed from 11th-place to ease though the stretch to a 6 1\/4-length win. For her efforts that day, she earned a 98 speed figure which is tops in this field by three points. She’s a deserving favorite in this race based not just on that last race but also an impressive four for five career resume that also includes a win in the seven-furlong Dell Computer Debutante (G1) at this same track. While the big jump up in speed figure (from 90 to 98) and the winning margin may indicate she had been aching to stretch out (and the Distorted Humor\/A.P. Indy bottom side of this scratch-bred’s pedigree doesn’t dispute that) it may also show she loves an off track, which she won’t get Saturday. The big jump up also leaves her vulnerable to a possible bounce Saturday. Of course, it’s just as possible she’s as good as she showed in the Darley, which would lead the front runners’ jockeys to be looking over their shoulders in the stretch run, fearing to see this big chestnut train charging to the wire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are three other grade one winners entered here, including Mines of War<\/strong> (post 5, 12\/1), who won the local prep race for this, the Walnut Tree Stakes (G1), in front-running style. Dontbetonme’s daughter of Mineshaft enters on a three-race winning streak, but it will probably take more than the 91 speed figure she earned in the Walnut Tree to get the job done here, though she is certainly in striking distance. Another concern is the relatively easy way she was able to establish a clear lead early on last time out, with the others allowing her to complete the opening half-mile in 48.20 seconds. There’s enough other early speed here to fairly guarantee a quicker pace on Saturday. She has won from just off the pace so she may need those tactics again. Her grade 3 winning War Front mare did her best running sprinting, but did secure wins in 8- and 9 1\/2-furlong allowance races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Liam’s Eighty Eight Ford<\/strong> (post 4, 10\/1) won the eight-furlong Frickazee Stakes (G1) last time out, earning a 93 speed figure for her 1 1\/4-length score. The Not This Time filly comes from just behind the lead group and could contend for the win here with another forward move. Eighty Eight Ford has also annexed the Iron Deck (6 1\/2 furlongs, G2) and a listed stakes. Her dam, the Distorted Humor mare Joan’s Wish, faded to eighth in a listed stakes in her lone try at a mile distance. Joan’s Wish won the Humane Distaff like her Hall of Fame mother Frosty Mae, who won that race twice as well as the 2016 Breeders’ Bowl F and M Sprint (G1). It’s certainly a classy family and Eighty EIght Ford’s half-sister Reverse Projection has shown a bit more ability routing than sprinting which tends to allay fears she might come up a bit short in the stretch Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final of the four grade one winners in the field is Tisjuliet’s In Low Places<\/strong> (post 9, 7\/1). The daughter of Into Mischief set all the pace in the seven-furlong Getaway Stakes in late August before fading to fourth in Eighty Eight Ford’s Frickazee after failing to set the pace for the first time in her career. All three of the Frickazee rivals who beat her are signed up here too, including that race’s pacesetter, Landed Joke. While it’s unclear if In Low Places appreciates routing as much as sprinting, her War Front dam was a capable miler. It will be interesting to see what pace tactics are employed with In Low Places Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tenpoint’s grade two winner Tentimeworldchamp<\/strong> (post 1, 8\/1) is another one with an eye on the early lead, but the daughter of Curlin showed she doesn’t absolutely need it last time out in the KeggerDay Fillies Juvenile Mile. In that race, she pressed the pace of a pair of rivals while sandwiched between before edging clear to a two-length lead over stablemate Bullet Broker. Tentimeworldchamp earned a 95 speed figure in that race, making her obviously competitive here. However, that speed figure, coming in her first route race, represents a 17-point jump from her previous best speed figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another from the Tenpoint stable is the previously mentioned Bullet Broker<\/strong> (post 7, 9\/1). The one-time winner from four lifetime starts had her best outing in the KeggerDay but has also placed in the 6.5-furlong Sorgento (G3) and a seven-furlong allowance race. The scratch-bred daughter of Gun Runner (with Danzig x Seattle Slew on the bottom) faded ever so slightly in the KeggerDay after racing just behind the leading trio, the first time she raced behind horses in her short career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of Tenpoint’s four fillies entered here, two are grade two winners, the previously examined Tentimeworldchamp and Camlaw Stakes (G2) winner Smoky Alley<\/strong> (post 8, 15\/1). The daughter of Flower Alley (and the first stakes winner from her Tapit x Monsun mare) won her first three starts, including a listed stakes race, before throwing a dud in The Iron Deck (G2) in August. She stretched out to a mile for the first time in the Camlaw and rallied through the lane there to notch the 1\/4-length win over Juvenile Fillies rival Sherwood Content. Smoky Alley earned a career best 92 speed figure that day, and will probably have to step forward again to contend here. The likely early pace scenario should complement her late running style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To dispense with the Tenpoint runners in order we’ll move to Landed Joke<\/strong> (post 10, 9\/1) next. Tenpoint comes to this race with two grade two winners and two that have only notched one victory. While Landed Joke has yet to win since her March debut, she has finished second in three stakes races, including the grade one Getaway Stakes, and a third in the Frickazee, so she certainly has a chance here. However, like several others, she is a pace pressing\/frontrunning sort in a race with many fitting that profile. The daughter of Practical Joke is looking to become the fourth stakes winner out of her Breeders’ Bowl F and M Sprint winning mare Deep Pact (Deep Impact x Miswaki).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only other graded stakes winner is James34’s grade three victress Hannahknife<\/strong> (post 11, 9\/1). Of her six wins from seven lifetime starts, three have come in grade 3 races, including a 1 1\/4-length triumph in September’s Margarine Stakes in Ontario. Her speed figure of 95 earned that day places her among the fastest horses in this race. She’s another one in here who races prominently and also another in here whose mother (Elusive Hannah, by Elusive Quality) won the Breeders’ Bowl F & M Sprint (2019). While some of the owners of fillies in this race have over 200 stables, James34 has just 10, and only 29 juveniles in his stables thus far this year, with several of those being sired by minor regional sires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Waremblem5’s Kosmic Kara<\/strong> (post 14, 10\/1) won her first three career starts but has yet to break through at the stakes level, finishing second in both her attempts thus far. Last time, the daughter of Game Winner rallied just behind Eighty Eight Ford in the Frickazee, making up 1 1\/4 lengths on that one from the stretch call to the wire. The added ground here and a solid pace to run into should add up to a solid chance to hit the board. Her Street Cry dam Kara Zor El was a grade two winning sprinter. That one’s he-mare was Superman, winner of the 2009 Breeders’ Bowl Sprint (G1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Desperado’s A Dead Mans Switch<\/strong> (post 13, 13\/1) made a big move into and around the second turn of the Darley last time out but had no answer for Fun One, when that one swooped past. Will jockey Q. Cassell take this one a little farther back off the pace to be able to resist Fun One’s late run? This daughter of Quality Road has been improving by leaps and bounds over the summer and will need another forward move here. A Dead Mans Switch’s Black Middle Flower (G2) runner-up mare was twice a stakes winner at 13 furlongs, lessening stamina concerns that hover over some of her rivals like a turkey vulture soaring on a thermal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stockswami12’s Storm Curlin Gal<\/strong> (post 2, 8\/1) was also an impressive non-winner in her last race, closing stoutly to miss by a 1\/4 length in the Walnut Tree. The daughter of Curlin seemed to appreciate routing, earning a 90 speed figure after a flat race in the Hoserhead Juvenile Fillies (G2). With Storm Cat and A.P. Indy completing this scratchbred’s pedigree and a running style that should benefit from the expected pace scenario, Storm Curlin Gal can’t be ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another one who finished a nice closing second in her last race is Dixiedotco’s Sherwood Content<\/strong> (post 3, 13\/1). Nondescript when sprinting in the spring, the daughter of Bolt d’Oro moved up in her first race routing on an off track in August before just missing behind Smoky Alley in the Camlaw Stakes last time out. Her Into Mischief mare was a dedicated miler and again the running style seems right. Will just need a step forward for this one with a top speed figure of 91.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still a maiden after 10 races, many of them allowance races, something clicked for Lucky Win Win Plus<\/strong> (post 6, 18\/1) in race 11 and there’s been no looking back since. On the momentum of that 1 3\/4-length restricted-maiden win in July, the Chilean-bred daughter of Lookin at Lucky then dispatched five rivals in an open allowance race before closing moderately to finish third in the Walnut Tree in her first race around two turns. Intermediate routes seem right up the alley of this scratchbred with Pioneerof the Nile and Pulpit underneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n te routes seem right up the alley of this scratchbred with Pioneerof the Nile and Pulpit underneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for picks, I’m going to put Hannahknife on the top, for pure sentiment based on the small stable vs. big stable angle (not to mention all practical gauges says she’s in with a chance). Fun One is being used on tickets as well, maybe first with some longer-priced closers and in minor spots on other tickets. The group of Kosmic Kara, A Dead Mans Switch, Storm Curlin Gal, Sherwood Content, and Smoky Alley are hard to seperate, any of them could pop or run mid-pack. Hmm? So, I’ll eliminate Sherwood Content because I don’t know how to pronounce Content (like contentment or content management?), Kosmic Kara on a personal downgrade of the Frickazee form, and Smoky Alley because Tenpoint has too many horses entered here (as everywhere). That leaves A Dead Mans Switch and Storm Curlin Gal to fill out the superfecta. Good luck to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Addendum<\/strong> (or stop the presses, as they say): While pasting this story into the content manager I did a little research and discovered that Sherwood Content is where Usain Bolt is from, tying in with Bolt d’Oro as a sire and now I need to add Sherwood Content back into my picks. I’ll reluctantly take out Storm Curlin Gal as the price is much higher on A Dead Mans Switch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This 2024 renewal of the $1.5-million Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Fillies (G1) is set for Saturday with a full field of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68686"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68688,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68686\/revisions\/68688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}