BC Juvenile Fillies Contender: Spring in the Air

The feature race at opening day of the Keeneland Fall meeting was the grade one Alcibiades for two year-old fillies. Run on the polytrack at a mile and a sixteenth, this race is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, a “Win and You’re In” event.

 

There was a full field of fourteen horses that came to Kentucky from seven different tracks that covered the East and West coasts, the Midwest, and Canada. They had raced on dirt, turf, and artificial surfaces.  Spring in the Air, who was listed at 12-1 on the morning line, made a big closing move down the middle of the racetrack to win the $240,000 first place money. Spring in the Air, who ended up as a lukewarm 4.30-1 betting favorite, joins Executiveprivilege as the second to earn a guaranteed spot in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies field.

 

 

Spring in the Air was bred in Ontario by WinStar Farm and was purchased as a two year-old at the March Ocala sale for $120,000 by John Oxley.

 

The first three races of her career came at Woodbine. She finished second in her debut in a $150,000 restricted stake as the 1.70-1 favorite. Dropping back to a maiden special weight as the overwhelming .20-1 favorite, she won that race by more than 10 lengths. In the grade two Natalma she switched to the turf and closed from 11^th place to finish second to the highly regarded Spring Venture. Spring in the Air was clearly very well regarded from the before she hit the racetrack.

 

In the Alcibiades, Spring in the Air raced mid-pack most of the way.  Going around the turn, according to the Daily Racing Form chart, she “angled out, made a four wide run into the stretch and closed fast to be up in time.”

 

Trainer Mark Casse said, “She’s just pure class. A lot of the other fillies were getting upset in the paddock but it didn’t bother her at all. Patrick (jockey Patrick Husbands) has ridden almost 1,000 winners for me. He had a ton of confidence in her and rode her like he did. It took that (confidence) to let her drop back that far and then make a run. She’s got a pretty good surge to her when you hit the gas.”

 

Since Keeneland changed to the polytrack surface in 2006, none of the Alcibiades winners have gone on to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Since the start of the Breeders’ Cup in 1984, only Eliza 1992, Countess Diana 1997, and Silverbulletday 1998 have the won the Alcibiades and the Juvenile Fillies.