Juddmonte’s four-time G1 winner heads for the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile, with juvenile Moonrise locked in for the Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland, Courtney Snow/ Past The Wire
Breeders’ Cup Press
KINGSCLERE, England – Juddmonte’s Blue Bolt (IRE) has been one of the stories of the European season, and Andrew Balding will bid to land a first Breeders’ Cup victory when the brilliant filly lines up at Keeneland on Oct. 31 – most likely in the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).
The 4-year-old has reeled off four Group 1 wins in a row over a mile – the Falmouth Stakes, Prix Rothschild, Matron Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes – and is set to be nominated for both the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile and the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1). Owner Juddmonte boasts a fine record in the Mile, having landed the race with Expert Eye (GB) in 2018.
Asked about the filly taking on the colts, Balding said: “She’s a filly, you know, and she’s just got better through the year. But obviously she hasn’t run against colts this year. I don’t think that’s necessarily an issue — I think she can take very, very good, strong form against them, if that’s where we have to go.”
On her physique, he added: “Yes, she’s an incredible physical specimen. She can hold her own against the men, I’d say.”
On whether she could stretch to the Filly & Mare Turf, Balding said: “That is a possibility. She’ll be nominated for both races by next Monday. I’ll have a look at both. I wouldn’t have a problem with her getting the extra bit of distance — I don’t think that would be a problem — but we’ll put her in both.”
On always having the Breeders’ Cup in mind, he continued: “It was always there. But she hasn’t missed a dance this year — she’s turned up at every festival and turned in her best each time. There’s always a concern with the fillies when you get this late into the autumn, that at some stage they’re going to lose their edge and the form… but we’ll see. It’ll be noticeable in her homework when we start preparing for the Breeders’ Cup.”
Juvenile Moonrise all set for Juvenile Turf Sprint
Ahmad Alkhallafi’s Moonrise (IRE) has already booked her place in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In, having taken the Princess Margaret Stakes (G3) at Ascot. The Churchill (IRE) filly went on to beat the colts under a penalty in the Sirenia Stakes (G3) at Kempton before running a creditable fourth in one of the strongest renewals of the Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) in years.
Asked whether Moonrise is good enough to win a Breeders’ Cup race, Balding said: “Yeah, definitely. She beat colts when she won the Sirenia with a penalty, and then turned up in probably one of the strongest Cheveley Parks there’s been in decades and ran a very respectable race to finish fourth. She’s got really good natural early speed — good gate speed — which should put her in a good place in America.
Moonrise even carries a strand of Breeders’ Cup history in her pedigree, being by Churchill, whose final racecourse start came in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on the dirt.
Balding, still seeking a first Breeders’ Cup winner, added: “I don’t know — we’ve had a couple of chances. I really thought Kameko would have a good chance in the Mile, whenever his year was. Pacific Mission, she ran really well, she was second. And then we had a couple of disappointments. But anyway, we’ll keep trying.”
The Breeders’ Cup World Championships take place on Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky.
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