Paolucci believes the sky is the limit for filly Heavenhasmynikki

"I try to name my good ones after my daughters."

And that is how Heavenhasmynikki got her name: in honor of Ron Paolucci's daughter, Nicole, who died two years ago at age 21.

If you've been following her career, you know that the good looking chestnut filly by Majestic Warrior made a bit of a splash even before her first race.

"I didn't see a lot in there, and I knew she was a tremendous talent," Paolucci told me about his decision to pre-enter Heavenhasmynikki in last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. "Her mind is very good, and she handles everything that you put in front of her."

"It's not that I expected to win the race, but the risk was worth the reward," says the man who shocked the racing world by winning this very event back in 2013 with Ria Antonia at odds of 32-1.

The Breeders' Cup did not allow the then-unraced filly to be entered in the big event. The most important race in America for 2-year-old fillies was eventually won by the longshot Caledonia Road at odds of 17-1.

Stung by the decision of the Breeders' Cup to deny entry of his prized filly, Paolucci remained true to his "roll the dice" spirit and watched his Tell Your Mama finish 13th and last in the race.

"The one I ran in there is nowhere near Heavenhasmynikki," he said. "She is 15 lengths better [than Tell Your Momma]."

It's worth noting that Paolucci was likely right about the relative weakness of the 2017 Juvenile Fillies considering the longshot winner and the rather weak final time of 1:45.05.

"This is still America," he said of the Breeders' Cup's decision. He says he holds no ill will towards the championships but hopes they learn from it. "What if she had run second or third? It would have brought in fans."

With the Breeders' Cup disappointment behind him, Paolucci remains over the moon with the $150,000 yearling purchase, and now two starts into her career, it appears that the controversial owner might just have the last laugh.

Four days before the Juvenile Fillies ran without Heavenhasmynikki, the Ohio-bred filly made her debut at Mahoning Valley in Paolucci's home state of Ohio. Sent off at odds of 3-10, she won for fun under Javier Castellano.

It's not often you see one of the world's top riders in the saddle for a maiden race at Mahoning Valley, but Castellano had worked her at Saratoga and agreed to make the trip.

"Javier is loyal, and he likes winning. It meant a lot [to me] for him to come in," said Paolucci.

With a bit of a statement made directed to the Breeders' Cup just days before the World Championships, Heavenhasmynikki proved that she had some talent in her six-furlong debut. It was a career starter that had been delayed when she had switched barns from Jeremiah Englehart to Anthony Quartarolo. Shipped back to New York after the win, she suffered a cut one day during a barn incident, delaying her second career start.

She finally made it back to the races on Jan. 15 at Gulfstream Park in a six-furlong allowance race. It wasn't easy, but the Loooch Racing runner found an opening on the rail to win in determined fashion by a head over the favored, Toni Ann's Miracle.

"She was checked, hemmed in, and it was her first time on the inside, but she came home fast," Paolucci said. "She came out of the race great."

Now unbeaten in two starts, the filly that the Breeders' Cup did not want will likely make her next start in a stakes race, although Paolucci is uncommitted about when that will come.

"I'm not 100 percent sure yet," he said. "The timing of the stakes races down there is a bit of a tweener for her."

Heavenhasmynikki will either run her in the Grade 3 Forward Gal at seven furlongs on Feb. 3, the one-mile, Grade 2 Davona Dale on March 3, or a two-turn allowance race at Gulfstream.

Paolucci did emhasize that he really looks forward to running Heavenhasmynikki at a distance of ground. "She wants to run long. She's a big, long-striding filly, and looks like a colt."

Whenever that next race happens, look for the undefeated filly to get in one major prep for the big goal, which is the Kentucky Oaks. "That would be unbelievable," Paolucci said of seeing the filly he calls special in the starting gate for the spring classic.

Either the Fair Grounds Oaks or the Ashland at Keeneland will be the vehicle to see if Heavenhasmynikki truly belongs with the best fillies of this crop at Churchill Downs.

Never one to back away from a challenge, Paolucci might have been right all along about that the filly who holds a place near to his heart.

"I think a few [that he has owned] have been special, but she is definitely special," Paolucci said. "She's all class -- a special filly."

When I asked if all goes well will he enter this special filly in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, without hesitation Paolucci said, "Oh yes, the Breeders' Cup for sure."