LEXINGTON, Ky.— D. J. Stable’s Wonder Wheel punched her ticket to the $2 million NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) to be run Nov. 4 here at Keeneland with a wire-to-wire victory in Friday’s $500,000 Darley Alcibiades (G1). The triumph in the “Win and You’re In” race gives Wonder Wheel a fees-paid entry in the Juvenile Fillies.
Trainer Mark Casse said the filly will remain at Keeneland to train up to the Breeders’ Cup.
“She looks great this morning,” Casse said. “She was here in the spring (with three published works in April and May) and she likes it.”
This is Casse’s fourth win in the Darley Alcibiades, following Spring in the Air (2012), My Conquestadory (2013) and Heavenly Love (2017).
“She’s as good as any of them (his previous Alcibiades winners),” Casse said about Wonder Wheel. “From the day we started breezing her, I told the Greens (Leonard and Lois of D.J. Stable), ‘I think this one could be special’, but you never know because it’s all a progression.”
Wonder Wheel, a daughter of Into Mischief, sold to D.J. Stable for $275,000 at Keeneland’s 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She was consigned by Clearsky Farms, which bred her with Three Chimneys Farm.
“I have a (stakes-winning) filly called Make Mischief who’s by Into Mischief and she’s made just shy of $800,000 now,” Casse said. “She (Wonder Wheel) reminded me of Make Mischief, and it was one of the things that drew me to her (as a yearling). They look almost identical. This filly has a lot of leg for an Into Mischief.”
Wonder Wheel’s win in the Darley Alcibiades increased her earnings to $510,725 with a record of 4-3-1-0. Second in the Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga, she also won the Debutante (L) at Churchill Downs,
Selective LLC’s Chop Chop was scheduled to return to Churchill on Saturday following her runner-up effort in the Darley Alcibiades.
Blake Cox, son of trainer Brad Cox, said Chop Chop came out of the race well.
Keeneland Press Release
Photo: Wonder Wheel after her Darley Alcibiades victory (Keeneland Photo)
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