Pizza Bianca, last year’s JFT winner (Chelsea Durand)
By Margaret Ransom
The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), first inaugurated at Santa Anita Park in 2008, will be contested for the 15th time this year as part of the Breeders’ Cup World Championship “Future Stars Friday” program on November 4. The one-mile turf event, which was added a year after its counterpart for males, received grade 2 status in 2010 and has been a grade 1 since 2012.
Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown has dominated this race having sent out five winners, including Maram in the inaugural running. His other winners are champion Lady Eli, New Money Honey, Rushing Fall and Newspaperofrecord. Jockeys Javier Castellano, Florent Geroux and Irad Ortiz Jr. have won aboard two runners each and for Castellano and Ortiz, all four of their wins combined were on the runners trained by Brown.
Lady Eli is so far the only Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner to earn year-end accolades, but she earned it as an older mare when her connections took home the Eclipse Award after she was crowned the 2017 champion older turf female.
Three years ago, Sharing took home the victory and the Graham Motion-trained Speightstown filly is a daughter of 2010 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Shared Account, who was also conditioned by Motion. In 2020, Brad Cox saddled the Irish-bred Aunt Pearl to victory for Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables LLC, Peter Deutsch, Michael Kisber, and The Elkstone Group, LLC (Stuart Grant) with Florent Geroux in the saddle.
Celebrity chef Bobby Flay was represented by his second Breeders’ Cup winner as an owner a year ago when his Pizza Bianca, trained by Cristophe Clement, took home the victory under jockey Jose Ortiz. Flay’s other Breeders’ Cup winner came in the same race in 2010 with More Than Real.
Lady Eli still owns the stakes record of 1:33.41 for her win at Santa Anita in 2014.
