Leave it to a couple of former Quarter Horse guys to have the speed of the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
A Z Warrior, trained by Bob Baffert, and Soundwave, trained by Ronny Werner, were among the 13 horses pre-entered in the 1 1/16-mile race on Monday. And both figure to be prominent when the Churchill Downs starter springs the latch for the Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 5.
A Z Warrior was with a strong pace when she won the Frizette at a mile at Belmont Park on Oct. 9. She will be making her two-turn debut in the Juvenile Fillies, and worked five furlongs in a bullet 58 seconds last Saturday at Hollywood Park.
“She’s fast,” Baffert said. “I expect her to be running on the pace or pretty close to it.”
Baffert said A Z Warrior was sent to Belmont to run on dirt, the surface in use for this year’s Breeders’ Cup. She also was a good candidate to ship, and on Sunday is to fly to Kentucky.
“Mentally, she’s got a great mind,” he said. “She never gets stirred up or anything.”
Baffert is hopeful A Z Warrior, a daughter of Preakness winner Bernardini, will handle the two turns. He said Martin Garcia has the mount. Baffert, who trained four champion Quarter Horses before embarking on a Hall of Fame career with Thoroughbreds, is seeking his third Juvenile Fillies win behind Silverbulletday in 1998 and Indian Blessing in 2007.
Werner, who began his career with Quarter Horses and will have three horses in this year’s Breeders’ Cup, has sent out Soundwave to win her last three starts, including the $164,000 fillies division of the NATC Futurity at Monmouth on Sept. 26. She rallied from off the pace to win the six-furlong race, and before that was prominent while winning a pair of sprints at Delaware Park. Soundwave will be making her two-turn debut in the Juvenile Fillies.
“We obviously do have the speed to go,” Werner said. “[But] I think we really can put her wherever we want to. We’re just going to have to see how the race shapes up and see what’s in there. She’s so rateable. She doesn’t move until you ask her to move.”
Werner said such decisions will be made by Robby Albarado, who has the mount.
Soundwave has won her last three starts by a combined 10 lengths. She is now based at Churchill, where she ran second in a maiden special weight in June. Werner said she will probably breeze a half-mile at the track on Friday.
“From what she’s shown us, we feel like she’s going to stretch out,” he said of Soundwave, a daughter of Florida Derby winner Friends Lake. “She won her last couple of races fairly easy, and I would think there’s more in the tank. We’ll see what happens.”
Indian Gracey might be the best of the two-turn speed in the Juvenile Fillies. She last ran in the Oak Leaf at Hollywood and was overtaken late by winner Rigoletta and runner-up Tell a Kelly. Indian Gracey finished third by 1 1/2 lengths, at 17-1.
“I thought she ran real well,” said her trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer. “She was running on the front end, and I don’t think she has to do that.”
Hollendorfer said he likes how Indian Gracey has been training since, her last work six furlongs in 1:12.40 at Hollywood on Sunday.
The Juvenile Fillies pre-entries were formful, with the biggest surprise being Believe in A.P., a 12-length maiden winner at Parx Racing on Oct. 9. She is trained by Rick Dutrow, whose brother, Tony Dutrow, pre-entered Joyful Victory.
Jordy Y and Theysken’s Theory, a half-sister to BC Juvenile winner Stevie Wonderboy, were cross-entered in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
