Pocahontas has Breeders’ Cup cred; Iroquois not so much

Their place at the start of the Kentucky Derby and Oaks trails is unmistakable. But the Iroquois and Pocahontas, two Grade 3 stakes being run again Saturday at Churchill Downs, have more immediate relevance in their position near the end of the road to the Breeders’ Cup.

It is especially true for the Pocahontas. Two of its graduates, Epitome in 1987 and Take Charge Brandi in 2014, went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

It is not the case for the Iroquois, which has yet to produce a winner in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile let alone the Kentucky Derby.

That does not mean either race should suffer too much indignity. The sample is small. It was only 11 years ago when the Iroquois and Pocahontas were put into their current positions on the calendar in order to make them the first points preps under what was then the new qualifying system for the Derby and Oaks.

Before 2012 the two races that will be renewed this weekend used to be run right around the same time on the calendar as the Breeders’ Cup.

Since the Pocahontas was moved to September, 14 fillies who raced in it also started in the Breeders’ Cup. Take Charge Brandi’s triumph for trainer D. Wayne Lukas in the Juvenile Fillies was a complete surprise nine years ago. She finished fifth in the Pocahontas and went off at 61-1 in the Breeders’ Cup that fall at Santa Anita.

Epitome remains the only horse to finish first in both the Pocahontas and the Breeders’ Cup, and that was partly because of a unique scheduling circumstance in 1987. The championships were run in late November that year at Hollywood Park in order to accommodate the California racing calendar. Epitome went off at 30-1 in her Juvenile Fillies triumph.

Last year Shoplifter and Grand Love, who finished second and third behind Fun and Feisty, made it from the Pocahontas to the Breeders’ Cup. Grand Love finished sixth in the Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland, and Shoplifter came in 11th.

Fifteen Iroquois finishers went on to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, all since 2014. The 2016 winner Not This Time came closest to pulling off the double, finishing second to Classic Empire in the Juvenile at Santa Anita. Last year’s Iroquois victor Curly Jack was fifth at the Breeders’ Cup.

The Iroquois and Pocahontas are not the same Iroquois and Pocahontas as they have been, though. This weekend they are reverting to their original condition of being one-turn miles after being staged nine of the last 10 years as 1 1/16-mile races. The longer distance going two turns is precisely how the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies traditionally are run.

Although there has not been a Kentucky Derby winner with the Iroquois on his past performances, five Kentucky Oaks winners came through the Pocahontas, including Sweet Alliance in 1976-77, Rachel Alexandra in 2008-09, Believe You Can in 2011-12, Untapable in 2013-14 and Serengeti Empress in 2018-19. Sweet Alliance, Untapable and Serengeti Empress won both races.