Lady Eli Headlines the Star-Studded Jenny Wiley
There a few stories in the history of sports that can even begin to mirror that of Lady Eli. The spectacular daughter of Divine Park has defied the odds, all of her life. She's not bred to be a champion, she doesn't boast a champions pedigree, but she has the one thing it takes to be a champion, heart.
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The Chad Brown charge Lady Eli was undefeated and unchallenged as a two-year-old while winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Her three-year-old season was much the same -- pure dominance. She kept her undefeated record going into the Belmont Oaks, a race in which she won by some nearly three lengths. She looked well on her way to another undefeated season and another Breeders' Cup win, that was until she stepped on a nail and found herself in the biggest fight she's ever had -- the one for her life. Lady Eli defied all the odds when she beat Laminitis and made it back to the race track some 13 months after the accident.
Lady Eli was defeated for the first time in her return to racing but she was game in defeat only losing by three-quarters of a length in the (G2) Ballston Spa at Saratoga. She went on to win the (G1) Flower Bowl before losing a heart breaking photo in the (G1) Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She's a length away from being undefeated and she's never run worse than second. She'll find the competition to be quite salty in the Jenny Wiley, though.
Lady Eli draws the rail as the even money favorite for trainer Chad Brown and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Among others, she'll have to deal with the speedy Catch A Glimpse.
Catch A Glimpse is 5-1 on the morning line for trainer Mark Casse. Florent Geroux gets the mount. The daughter of City Zip is ultra consistent with 8 wins out of 13 starts and nearly 2 million dollars in earnings. She'll look the control the race from the get go breaking from post #3.
Time and Motion #6 is the 4/1 second choice on the morning line for trainer James Toner. Champion jockey John Velazquez will be in the irons. The daughter of Tapit is no stranger to the aforementioned, Catch a Glimpse, the two have taken turns beating each other, each winning twice in four match-ups. Time and Motion will be looking for a stalking position somewhere mid pack. She, along with Catch a Glimpse, look to be the main competition to Lady Eli.
Dickinson is coming in red hot for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and jockey Paco Lopez. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro is riding a two race win streak with victories coming in the (G3) Suwanee River and the (G2) Hillsborough. She's another mare that will be looking to stalk, and she offers value at 8/1 on the morning line.
Illuminant is also 8/1 on the morning line. The Michael McCarthy charge should put pressure on Catch A Glimpse early. She's stretching out from her 1 1/4-length victory in the Wishing Well stakes at Santa Anita. She's also riding a two race win streak with her other victory coming in the (G1) Gamely. She gets Flavian Prat in the irons, who might just be the hottest jockey in the country. She'll be in a good position early and should get first run on Lady Eli.
Quidura is 10/1 on the morning line for Graham Motion. Jockey Junior Alvarado gets the call on this daughter of Dubawi. This filly could be any sort, she's undefeated in America, albeit in only two races, with wins in an allowance race at Belmont and a (G3) score in the Valley View Stakes on this very turf course at Keeneland. Her only loss in her short four-race career was in Germany where she never took a liking to the ground and never ran a step, beaten 49 1/2 lengths. She's making her seasonal debut here, I would give her a start before betting her too hard.
Lady Eli faces one of her tougher challenges while making her five-year-old debut, but one thing I've learned about this amazing mare is you never doubt her. I promise you one thing, if you want to win the Jenny Wiley, you'll have to fight Lady Eli for it, and she's known to come out on top.