Dead Heat's Top Ten Countdown: Fillies and Mares

Over the last decade there have been many talented horses to grace America’s racetracks. Over the next several days I plan to make top ten lists, starting from 2003 till now, for the best fillies and mares, best Colts and horses, Best turf horses, top sprinters, and finally, a cumulative list of the top 10 horses to compete from 2003 to 2013.

 

My first Top ten was not an easy one by any means. This division has been one of the most talented, the most competitive, and deepest divisions year after year. My top 10 Fillies and Mares.

10.) Rags to Riches: Who could ever forget this beautiful Todd Pletcher trainee? She wasn’t around for long, which is the cause of her being so low, but in the short time she ran, she was nothing short of brilliant. During the early parts of 2004, there was no better three year old filly. She won four straight grades ones, including a tour de force in the Kentucky Oaks, and her most famous win, the Belmont Stakes. There she beat eventual Horse of the Year Curlin, in a thrilling stretch duel. She will forever be remembered for her courageous performance that day.

 

9.) Indian Blessing: The fact that she was a sprinter should not cloud the fact that she was an outstanding filly. A champion at two, and champion female sprinter at three tells only part of the story. At two she was never challenged, including romping wins in the Frizette and Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies. At three she won three more grade ones, and placed second in the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and the Acorn. Her final season was short, but nonetheless, she still showed her mettle, winning the Gallant Bloom, while finshing second against males in Dubai, and the Ballerina. Overall she won 5 grade ones, and only once in 16 starts did she ever finished worse than second.

 

8. Havre de Grace: This one may have finished much higher if not for her rival nosing her out on several occasions. At three she only managed to win one Grade one, and that was the Cotillion, but when one looks at her season closer, they will see she performed admirably the entire year against a much more experienced foe. It wasn’t untill 2011 that her true colors showed. That year she won the Grade one Apple Blossom and Beldame against her own sex, while beating males in the Woodward Stakes. Those three wins earned her a championship in her own division as well as being honored Horse of the Year.

 

7.) Blind Luck: The little filly who could…The heart of this one is undeniable. At two she won the Hollywood Starlet and the Oak Leaf Stakes, while finishing second in the Darley Debutante, and third in the Breeders Cup Juvenile. That she lost the championship after a season like that is a travesty, but she showed her stuff the next year winning five more stakes, three being grade ones, while never finishing worse than third. At the end of 2010 She was named Champion Three year old Filly. At four, she may not have been quite as good, but she still rounded out her career with three more stakes wins, including the Grade one Vanity, and now Grade one Delaware Handicap, after an epic stretch duel, with long time rival Havre de Grace.

 

6.) Ginger Punch: Consistently dominant are the words I’d use to describe this one over the two years she ran. In stakes competition she only ran worse than top three once, and that was over a synthetic course. In total, she ran in sixteen stakes races, 11 of which were grade ones, winning 10 times. She took her division in 2007, and had a year worthy of a repeat in 2008, but was beaten out by a mare who went down in the history books for winning 19 straight races.

 

5.) Ashado: It takes a special one to compete against the best three years in a row, especially when those years are from two, to three, to four. During those years it is expected for juveniles or early maturing three year olds to be surpassed by their later maturing peers. That was not the case with Ashado who took the grade one Spinaway, in addition to the Schulyerville and Demoiselle as a Juvenile, before winning the Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks, Cotillion Handicap, and Breeders Cup Distaff at three. At four she continued her success, winning the Ogden Phipps Handicap, the Go For Wand Handicap, and the Beldame Stakes. This one never lost a step, and she was rewarded by being crowned Champion Three Year old Filly and Champion Older Female.

 

 

3.) Zenyatta: 13 grade one wins. Her only loss being a valiant performance in the Breeders Cup Classic, where she lost by a nose. Outside of that she never lost. In 2008 she beat the champion older female, Ginger Punch, in only her fourth start. She beat the best horses in her division all year long, one at a time, and then beat them all on the square in a scintillating performance at the Breeders Cup. In 2009 She became the first filly or mare to ever win the Breeders Cup Classic, and in 2010, despite losing the Classic, she was crowned Horse of the Year.

 

2.) Azeri: Complete, Coast to Coast, Domination. From Florida to Illinois, from New York to California to Kentucky, this mare raced at the top of her division and dominated. From November, 2001 to May, 2004 Azeri ran in a total of fifteen graded stakes, never once finishing worse than second. Also during that time period, she amassed and 11 race winning streak, that included 8 grade ones. During her career she won three Apple Blossom’s, becoming the only horse to win the race three consecutive years in a row. She was named champion of her division three years in a row and also was honored with Horse of the Year in 2003. Over the last decade there was never a female who dominated the entire continent like Azeri did.

 

1.) Rachel Alexandra: Looking at her accomplishments on paper, one sees a five time grade one winner and the winner of 11 stakes in total, whom only ever finished out of the the top two once. Impressive as that is, when one looks deeper, the history she made during 2009 was indisputable. As a juvenile she broke the stakes record in the Golden Rod Stakes, while also running second in the Debutant and Pocahontas. At three she set a total of five stakes record for either speed or winning margin, winning five grade ones, three against males, one against older males. She became the fifth filly win the Preakness, the second to win the Haskell, and the first to win the Woodward Stakes, in what still is the fastest running of the race since it was moved to Saratoga. At the end of 2009 she was crowned Horse of the year. The respect others earned and the history others made over two or three years, she received in one.