Cotillion Features Close Hatches, Sweet Lulu

Juddmonte Farm’s Close Hatches and Steve Beneto’s Sweet Lulu, two Grade 1 winning fillies will square off in Saturday's Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx.

The matchup features two Hall of Fame trainers, Bill Mott and Jerry Hollendorfer. Mott’s Close Hatches has not raced since her seven and a quarter length victory in the G1 Mother Goose at Belmont Park June 22nd. The daughter of First Defence did not race as a two year-old and immediately caught the division’s attention with a seven length win in her special weight debut at Gulfstream January 26th. She made it three in a row when she won the G2 Gazelle at Aqueduct in early April before suffering her first defeat in the G1 Kentucky Oaks. After running second to Midnight Lucky in the G1 Acorn May 27th at Belmont, she rebounded with her brilliant performance in the Mother Goose.

Hollendorfer’s Sweet Lulu has yet to taste defeat in four career starts. Also unraced as a two year-old, the Mr. Greeley filly didn’t make her first start until a victory at Betfair Hollywood on May 30th. She then went on to win consecutive allowance races at Hollywood and Del Mar before coming east for her first stakes appearance in the G1 Test at Saratoga on August 24th. With great determination she out finished Wildcat Lily and My Happy Face to win a three horse photo by a head. The one mile and one-sixteenth Cotillion will be the longest test so far of her five race career.

Here’s the complete field for the $1 million G1 Cotillion Stakes

1 Flash Forward Dominick Schettino Rajiv Maragh 20-1
2 Carnival Court Kiaran McLaughlin Luis Saez 8-1
3 Dancing Afleet Tim Ritchey Alex Cintron 15-1
4 Asiya Kiaran McLaughlin Irad Ortiz, Jr. 20-1
5 Seaneen Girl Bernard Flint Paco Lopez 5-1
6 My Happy Face Chad Brown Javier Castellano 9-2
7 Sweet Lulu Jerry Hollendorfer Julien Leparoux 7-2
8 Promise Me More Steve Asmussen Jose Ortiz 10-1
9 Close Hatches Bill Mott Mike Smith 5-2
10 Street Girl Manuel Azpurua Angel Castillo 10-1