Aunt Pearl earns Breeders’ Cup bid with record-setting victory in Jessamine Stakes
Another filly has punched her ticket to the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships with an impressive victory.
Aunt Pearl easily won the $150,000, Grade 2 JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland on Wednesday, shattering the previous race record with a time of 1:40.86 and earning an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. The 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be contested at Keeneland on Nov. 6-7.
The Jessamine was the final “Win and You’re in” Breeders’ Cup prep race of Keeneland’s Fall Meet. Nine horses earned automatic berths into Breeders’ Cup contests over the first three days of the meet last weekend.
Aunt Pearl has now won both of her career starts. The Ireland-bred filly broke her maiden at Churchill Downs on Sept. 1.
Ridden by Florent Geroux and trained by Brad Cox, Aunt Pearl broke as the 3-2 favorite and took command heading for the stretch, finishing 2 1/2 lengths ahead of 8-5 second choice Spanish Loveaffair. Ingrassia was third.
“(After her debut), we were hoping (she was this good). She showed us a lot of talent in the mornings. I told someone after the race that that’s the first time we ever cut her loose,” said Cox, the top trainer of the Fall Meet’s opening weekend with three wins. “She’s very gifted. She’s got a lot of natural speed ... she’s obviously very special. It was a big effort.”
Big bucks
Wednesday’s final race provided the largest payout of the Fall Meet thus far. Groovy Lemon Pie broke as a 26-1 long shot and held off favorite Long Term Thinking at the wire, giving jockey Florent Geroux his second straight victory.
It’s the first career win for Groovy Lemon Pie, who last time out in his debut finished second at Gulfstream Park. A winning ticket paid $55.80, $12.80 and $6.
Jockey shuffle
Looking for the hot jockey to put a few dollars on at Keeneland this week?
That might be more difficult than it seems.
Luis Saez won nine of his 22 starts during the opening weekend of the Fall Meet, finished second three times and third another three times for a hit-the-board rate of 68.2 percent. He captured the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades (aboard Simply Ravishing) on Friday, the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (Essential Quality) and the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes (Leinster) on Saturday, and the Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (Valiance) and the Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes (Mutasaabeq) on Sunday.
Alas, Saez has moved on to Belmont Park this week. That said, with no spectators allowed to attend the Keeneland Fall Meet and most wagering taking place online during the pandemic, you might not be able to follow Lexington’s hottest jockey to New York, but your money certainly can.
Joel Rosario, who won four races with three seconds at Keeneland last weekend, is also working at Belmont Park this week. However, Tyler Gaffalione (four wins, one second, five thirds in 20 starts) remains prominent in this week’s Keeneland entries as do Joe Talamo (two, one, four, 21) and Rafael Bejarano (two, zero, two, 16). Gaffalione won a pair of races Wednesday, and Talamo also picked up another first-place finish.
Another jockey to watch, one who was not in Lexington last weekend, is Robby Albarado, who won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on Saturday aboard the filly Swiss Skydiver.
Javier Castellano, who won four races at Belmont last Thursday, is also fully immersed at Keeneland this week.
Albarado, Keeneland’s third-leading all-time rider in victories with 526 and tied for fourth in stakes wins with 53 entering Wednesday, did not ride opening weekend here because he had to be at Pimlico 72 hours before the Preakness for quarantine purposes.
“Since I was there, (trainer) Kenny (McPeek) said why don’t you get on her in the mornings and I did for three days,” said Albarado, who rode Curlin to a head victory in the 2007 Preakness over Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense.
“The plan was to stay inside of Authentic because he tended to drift out in his races,” Albarado added. “I wanted to be inside, and she was doing it so easy down the backside. I got inside of Authentic faster than I thought I would, and I had not even asked her. At that point, I thought this is going to be a horse race.”
Improbable tops Breeders’ Cup rankings
Multiple graded stakes winner Improbable is favored to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Nov. 7, according to the weekly 2020 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings released Wednesday.
The Bob Baffert trainee, who has won three straight Grade 1 stakes contests, received 16 of 34 first-place votes. Tom’s d’Etat, who finished third in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga last time out, received seven first-place votes and finished second. He’s followed by Maximum Security (three), Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law (four) and Kentucky Derby winner Authentic.
Swiss Skydiver, who earned an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Classic last Saturday when she became the sixth filly to win the Preakness Stakes, debuted in the poll at No. 7.
Breeders’ Cup Classic rankings
(First-place votes in parenthesis)
1. Improbable, 312 (16)
2. Tom’s d’Etat, 261 (7)
3. Maximum Security, 258 (6)
4. Tiz the Law, 233 (4)
5. Authentic, 202 (1)
6. By My Standards, 166
7. Swiss Skydiver, 124
8. Global Campaign, 84
9. Tacitus, 76
10. Code of honor, 72
Keeneland 2020 Fall Meet
When: Through Oct. 24 (no spectators allowed)
Race days: Wednesdays through Sundays
First post: 1:05 p.m.
This story was originally published October 7, 2020 at 5:58 PM.