Breeders' Cup Distaff 2019: Prospective field and odds
The last time the Breeders’ Cup Distaff was held at Santa Anita, we witnessed a race for the ages as Beholder defeated Songbird by the slimmest of margins in 2016.
Since that day, forever Unbridled and Monomoy Girl have won the subsequent editions of the Distaff. This year, we'll have a new winner with Midnight Bisou, 7-for-7 on the season, leading this group of fillies and mares set to go nine furlongs on Nov. 2.
Below is a look at the projected field and odds that reflect the type of price we expect to see once the morning line is set.
Blue Prize 10-1 [Pure Prize -- Ignacio Correas IV -- 22:9-8-3 -- $1,592,253]: With this expected to be Blue Prize's final start before she sells as a broodmare prospect, the 6-year-old is entering the Distaff on a two-race winning streak, capturing the Summer Colony Stakes two back at Saratoga and the Spinster Stakes (G1) more recently at Keeneland.
Blue Prize finished fourth in last year’s Distaff, which marked Correas' first entry in the race. The mare, whose form has improved the second half of this season, has yet to race at Santa Anita but has won six of 12 career starts at the race distance.
Dunbar Road 8-1 [Quality Road -- Chad Brown -- 6:4-1-1 -- $637,900]: This 3-year-old, a $350,000 purchase, has earned well above that this season with graded wins win the Mother Goose (G2) and Alabama (G1). She'd be a factor in the event off an off rack, with the latter win over a sloppy track.
The filly has shown a propensity to sit off the early pace, saving a powerful late kick for the stretch run. The distance should be no problem for her, as she has won going longer, and her first foray at nine furlongs resulted in a close third against older competition in the Spinster.
Elate 7-2 [Madaglia d'Oro -- Bill Mott -- 18:7-7-2 -- $2,328,772]: Elate, who's more likely to go in the Breeders' Cup Classic, has lost all three times she faced Midnight Bisou. The Medaglia d’Oro mare finished second to Midnight Bisou in the Azeri (G2) at Oaklawn Park in March. She finished third, behind Escape Clause and her rival a month later in Arkansas in the Apple Blossom (G1). The pair also tangled down the stretch at Saratoga in an exciting rendition of the Personal Ensign (G1) in August.
In her final prep for the Breeders’ Cup, Elate finished second in the Spinster (G1) at Keeneland earlier this month. While she led Blue Prize in the stretch, she could not hold off that rival at the wire.
But it’s her wins at 10 furlongs that has Mott leaning toward the Classic. Mott won back-to-back Distaffs in 1997 and 1998 with Ajina and Escena. He also won the race three times when it was branded the Ladies’ Classic, twice with Royal Delta (2011 and 2012) and with Unrivaled Belle in 2010.
Guarana 8-1 [Ghostzapper -- Chad Brown -- 4:3-1-0 -- $879,400]: Ten of trainer Chad Brown’s 12 Breeders’ Cup wins have come on the turf, with only Good Magic (2017 Juvenile) and Wavell Avenue (2015 Filly & Mare Sprint) winning on dirt.
Guarana would seem to rate his best chance to win this year, as she has won three of her four career starts, with two of those in Grade 1 company. But she's also a candidate to go around one turn in the Filly & Mare Sprint after defeated most recently in the Cotillion Stakes (G1).
Guarana has sat close to or on the early lead in her three wins and would most likely be forwardly-placed in the Distaff. Her only race at nine furlongs resulted in a Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) victory at Saratoga.
La Force 30-1 [Power (GB) -- Patrick Gallagher -- 28:3-8-5 -- $599,151]: Graded stakes winner La Force is making this her career finale here off a fourth-place finish in the Zenyatta Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita. Her last win came at a mile and a sixteenth at Santa Anita four races ago in June when she won the Santa Maria Stakes (G2).
The 5-year old mare trained by Patrick Gallagher has not enjoyed much success in Breeders’ Cup races, as she finished eighth in last year’s Distaff and seventh in the 2016 Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Midnight Bisou 5-2 [Midnight Lute -- Steve Asmussen --18: 12-3-3 -- $3,410,00]: Coming into the Breeders’ Cup on a seven-race winning streak, all in graded stakes, Midnight Bisou is looking to improve upon her third-place finish in last year’s Distaff.
The 4-year old has only been beaten at Santa Anita once, when she finished second in her debut to eventual graded winner Dream Tree. Midnight Bisou was then conditioned by Bill Spawr. She transferred to the Asmussen barn after the Kentucky Oaks and has continued to be a force in the division.
Asmussen has one Distaff victory from saddling Untapable in the 2014 edition at Santa Anita.
Ollie’s Candy 20-1 [Candy Ride -- John Sadler -- 9:4-3-1 -- $476,151]: Relatively lightly raced, this filly has only missed the board once in her life.
Ollie’s Candy appears to be a horse that needs the lead in order to win. She is a multiple graded stakes winner, and in both of those victories she was first or second at first call and remained forwardly placed.
She has won once and finished third once in two starts on the dirt at Santa Anita. This would mark her first start at nine panels on the dirt but she has raced twice on the turf at a mile and and eighth, finishing second in the Del Mar Oaks (G1) last August and seventh in the Gamely Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita this past May.
Trainer John Sadler has never won the Distaff. He inherited Ollie's Candy from trainer Bill Morey Jr. earlier this season.
Paradise Woods 12-1 [Union Rags -- John Shirreffs -- 17: 5-3-3 -- $1,123,890]: Thirteen of Paradise Woods’ 17 career starts have come at Santa Anita. She has failed to hit the board just twice in those races and has five wins to her credit. The Union Rags mare now trained by John Shirreffs has seen a reversal in form in his care this season.
Shirreffs won the Distaff when it was the Ladies’ Classic in 2008 with Zenyatta and 2009 with Life is Sweet.
Paradise Woods has tackled nine furlongs three times in her career, with her lone win at a mile and an eighth coming in the Santa Margarita Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita this April. She enters off a 1 1/16-mile score in the Zenyatta Stakes.
Secret Spice 25-1 [Discreet Cat -- Richard Baltas -- 13:3-5-2 -- $548,510]: Running for Red Feather Racing and celebrity chef Bobby Flay, she will have her work cut out for her going a mile and an eighth.
The winner of one race in five starts this year, Secret Spice has yet to prevail going longer than a mile but does show three runner-ups in a row. To her credit, she finished second to a Distaff contender in all three of those races.
All three of her career wins have come at Santa Anita, and in all three she won in front-running style. Look for her to be part of the pace scenario as Baltas seeks his first Distaff win.
Serengeti Empress 15-1 [Alternation -- Tom Amoss -- 11:5-2-0 -- $1,282,120]: This 3-year-old filly's seeking her first win since the Kentucky Oaks after seconds in Belmont's Acorn (G1) and Saratoga's Test (G1). Most recently, she was sixth when near a hot pace in the Cotillion Stakes.
A winner of five races in 11 career starts, the millionaire is inconsistent. But when she is good, she is very good. Serengeti Empress is the most likely Distaff contender to make the early lead, followed by Secret Spice.
She’s a Julie 35-1 [Elusive Quality -- Steve Asmussen --17:6-2-4 --$1,102,881]: She’s a Julie won at Churchill Downs in May when she took the La Troienne Stakes (G1) on the Kentucky Oaks undercard. That victory was her third in a span of four races. But she has been cold ever since, failing to finish in the exacta in four consecutive races.
She finished fourth out of five runners in the Spinster. She finished third out of five in the Shuvee (G3) at Saratoga in July.
Asmussen will have the presumptive favorite in the race here and may not enter She's a Julie. But she remains on this list of possible contenders.
Street Band 15-1 [Istan -- Larry Jones -- 12:5-0-3 -- $1,052,425]: Another 3-year old millionaire, Street Band has won a Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3 race this year. But it was her victory in the Cotillion that established her as a legit threat here.
Under jockey Sophie Doyle, who made it her first Grade 1 victory, the win came over previously unbeaten Guarana. Bu Street Band possesses a style that may not be as conducive to success in the Distaff, or over a deep Santa Anita track. Street Band may be asked to get closer to the early pace to have a chance.
Wow Cat 30-1 [Lookin At Lucky -- Chad Brown -- 15:9-4-1 -- $1,182,977]: Wow Cat, last year's Distaff runner-up behind Monomoy Girl, enters this year's race given a similar schedule. The Chilean-bred won the Beldame last year, then followed that up with her place in the Distaff. This year, she finished second to Midnight Bisou in the Beldame after the two brushed in the stretch.
Brown could have as many as three runners in the Distaff with this 5-year-old looking to cycle back into top form. She won eight consecutive races in Chile in 2017 before coming to North America.