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Chad Brown has won the Juvenile Fillies Turf four times, including the last two years, and has strong claims of winning the race yet again with this exciting daughter of Lope de Vega.
Unbeaten in two starts at Saratoga and Belmont, she was particularly impressive when winning the Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes last time, coming home six and a half lengths clear of Varenka. Both her outings to date have come on officially yielding ground, and there is no reason to suggest she won’t operate on something a bit softer, a big plus given the amount of rain that has fallen in Louisville over the last day or so. Another positive is Newspaperofrecord’s early pace, which should put her in an ideal position from what looks a decent draw in stall six.
World of Trouble (Jason Servis) – Turf Sprint, Saturday (16:38 GMT)
This year’s Turf Sprint doesn’t look the strongest renewal, and is another grass race that may be won by the home team. World of Trouble has been a relative latecomer to the turf, having spent the first part of his career racing on dirt. Indeed, he showed plenty of ability on the main track over longer trips, but it is his reinvention as a turf sprinter on his last two starts that has really caught the eye, particularly when winning in a very fast time on his most recent outing in a stakes event at Belmont. With lots of early speed in his locker, World of Trouble should be able to get a good position despite a wide draw, and he is taken to continue his progression on this step up in class.
Catalina Cruiser (John Sadler) – Dirt Mile, Saturday (19:36 GMT)
Catalina Cruiser will be many people’s idea of a Breeders’ Cup banker in the Dirt Mile, and it would be hard to argue with those who side with him, despite a likely short price. Unbeaten in four starts to date, the versatile Catalina Cruiser has won from 6f to 8.5f, and has sauntered home by wide margins on his two most recent starts, both in Grade 2 company. Everything about John Sadler’s charge screams Grade 1 performer, and it will be a big surprise if he isn’t good enough to take the step up to the top level here. The one minor doubt is his trainer’s record outside of Southern California, which isn’t great, but it must be noted that he doesn’t ship horses away from his own circuit too often, so the sample size is small.