Keeneland preview: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (20.50)

David Metcalf | October 30, 2015

Harmonize put in an astonishing performance when winning last time out, and looks to hold outstanding claims of landing the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland (20.50).

The Bill Mott trained filly got denied a nose on her debut at Saratoga but then had no difficulty going one better when scoring by four lengths at the same venue.

Harmonize was then stepped up into Grade 3 company and overcame a horror passage to land the Jessamine Stakes over course and distance.

After being settled at the rear well-off the pace, Harmonize had a wall of horses in front of her three furlongs from home.

Her jockey Junior Alvorado decided the best course of action was to switch the daughter of Scat Daddy outside to overcame any trouble, and that meant her swinging eight wide to deliver a challenge.

Harmonize then took off when seeing daylight and came with a storming late surge down the straight to beat Sapphire Kitten by a neck.

It was an incredible effort, and Harmonize idled when hitting the front and was value for more than the winning performance.

Judged on the manner of that success, Harmonize clearly has a massive engine, and she hails from a stable that does tremendously well when targeting a big race.

Alice Springs and Illuminate are stiff competition

Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien has a good record with his Breeders Cup challengers, and Alice Springs looks a big player for the master of Ballydoyle.

The daughter of Galileo finished a fine third in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes behind brilliant stable companion Minding, and backed that up with a solid fourth in another Group 1 contest at Newmarket.

Alice Springs then gained a deserved victory when coasting to a four length success in a valuable sales race at Newmarket when last seen in action, and on the pick of her form she looks sure to give Harmonize plenty to think about.

Illuminate is another that has strong form to her name and looks sure to go well, whilst those looking for an outsider could do far worse than the Jeremy Noseda trained Nemoralia who has had this as her target since winning a sales race at Doncaster and ran well last time out when runner-up in a Grade 1 contest at Belmont Park.

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Coral’s top tip: Harmonize looked a monster when scoring last time out and rates a solid bet.