The Ladies and the Run For The Roses

Original article written by Jack Meyer posted 9 years 1 week ago

As in the real life counterpart to the Louisville Derby, fillies taking the Run For The Roses are few and far between. Whether you can blame it on the fact that it’s too early in a fillies sophomore year so they aren’t quite developed like the boys are, or the fact that only 3 have conquered the feat tells us that the boys are just superior to the girls at the classic distance, whatever the reasoning is, there is always more to the myth.

I want to delve a little deeper into the ladies that put the myth to rest over the years, and cover the hopefuls that are targeting the Derby as the Year 40 Triple Crown Trails kicks into high gear. It seems week 2 of this year will tell a lot for both Wish Upon a Star and Skyfall since that will tell the SIM world just what path their owners will be taking, so results on Friday should bring a lot of anticipation as to where lady luck will be calling home, with the boys, or with the little ladies who on right on the cusp of dancing with the boys in the big dance.

First we will visit the SIM vault, our first stop is way back in year 5 when a chestnut filly by the name of Soldier Girl made SIM history becoming the first filly to take down the boys in the Louisville Derby. She was sired by another Louisville Derby winner Battle Cry, and with only a single win in her first racing year, Soldier Girl wasn’t on anyone’s radar heading into her 3YO campaign. She won the Dearly Precious Stakes for fillies in her debut, then headed to Lexington Race Course to take on the boys in the Lexington Stakes, she dead-heated with the feisty Serena Sleet, (another filly), giving her the biggest win of her career to that point. With a big win in her final prep, Soldier Girl was headed to Louisville; she would be facing top notch colts including eventual 7 million plus earner Derby Dancer, so she knew the task would be a tough one. Her final time of 2:02 flat was the slowest of the first decade of the Louisville Derby in the SIM, so it wasn’t a show stopping performance, but it was a win, one that proved the ladies could do battle with the boys. Soldier Girl went on to defeat the boys again in the Stephen Foster Handicap, which was the last time she battled the opposite sex, though it may not have been pretty, she set the stage for all female hopefuls for future generations.

Next up we will revisit year 12 in the SIM when the second of our 3 mighty fillies took home the roses, a filly by the name of Piece of the Moon. Unlike Soldier Girl before her, Piece of the Moon was well known in the SIM, albeit on the fillies side of the coin with her wins in the Oak Leaf, Frizette, and Lexington Oaks heading into Derby Day. The field for the Derby was jam packed with such future superstars like The Edge of Night, Storm the Fortress, and Midnightconfession, this field was one to be reckoned with, and was as tough as they come. The daughter of Five Circles would master them all when they crossed the line winning by 1 ¼ lengths, she did so in a much more desirable 2:00 flat proving to be quite fast compared to the previous 11 before her. She faced the boys one more in the Baltimore Crown finishing a game 3rd, she ended her career with a big win in the Steward’s Cup Distaff, but her win in the Derby was an eye opener, she ran it faster and against tougher competition, the lady became a queen that day.

The last of our trio of brilliant fillies that captured the Roses in the Derby is High Flyer, a brown filly by the magical Loki Dynasty. High Flyer was a 1.5 million dollar purchase by Ali Weasley at one of The Steward’s annual auctions, she ran against the same sex 4 races, all wins, including her big win in the Juvenile Fillies over the likes of Shining On to close out her 2YO year. Her 3YO debut was a 2nd place finish in the Sunshine Park Derby against the boys which was a good enough effort to warrant a trip to Louisville. Her run in the Derby attracted a very talented field which included Gabriel, winner of the Sunshine Park Derby, King of the Desert, winner of the Hot Springs Derby, and Start of the End, who reeled off three wins to begin his career, so there was plenty of depth to make the field solid. High Flyer was all business when race time came, she mastered the Louisville oval with ease showing her heels to the field when the finish line came and went. She is the only one of the three fillies discussed who ran in all three legs of the Triple Crown, she finished 2nd in both the Crown and Classic making it just that close to becoming the only filly, real or fake, to capture all three of the majestic races, she was truly special.

I thought to myself, “what of the two fillies that seem to be in the perfect spot for a trip to the Derby this year?”, which made me turn my focus on two very capable, on paper, fillies who could pose a serious threat to the boys in week 6, Art Vandalay’s Skyfall, and Danny Derby’s Wish Upon A Star. Both of these fillies fell short in the Juvenile Fillies in week 16, and both have major preps in week 2 before deciding their fate in the weeks to follow, I wanted to know what it would take to get them to Louisville, so I went straight to the source of each.

First up is Skyfall, her 98 Speed Figure in her Maiden debut was off the chart, that race and her pedigree says she is ready for the classic distance. Her Stakes debut came next out in the Okibi Senshi Stakes week 13, she went gate to wire in that race winning by 1 ¼ lengths under the wire earning a solid 82 Speed Figure, though it wasn’t here astronomical 98 SF like her debut, an 82 is quite nice for her first Stakes win. I think everyone in the SIM, me too unfortunately, knew where Skyfall was heading next, Art placed her in the Steward’s Cup Juvenile Fillies to go against the best fillies of her generation. Skyfall ran an 96 Speed Figure that day and didn’t win the race, you heard me right, 96 and didn’t win, that is beyond unbelievable, she ran 3rd behind Rekindle the Flame and Wish Upon a Star, it was a spectacle to witness in chat.

Now that we have background on Skyfall, let’s get to know what her future is, I caught up with Art Vandalay to see exactly he has planned for Skyfall in the coming weeks. He told me that his plan is to race her against the boys in week 4, I didn’t get a targeted race, but that much is confirmed, “She must run well there to be considered for the Derby," Art said, so her performance there means the world to Art if he even considers her for the Derby. I let Art continue as to why Skyfall is even considering the Derby, “What is enticing about running in the Derby is that I think she will love a mile and a quarter, obviously she would be a key player in the Oaks, but the mile and a quarter distance is very appealing for me." With the past and the present covered, what happens if she doesn’t like the Derby as a whole, “If she bombs in the Derby I will freshen her up and run back Long Island Acorn which is at a 1 1/2. Her dam, Maryland Million won that race." So, it looks like the Derby is a go with a strong performance in her final prep in week 4 against the boys, if she throws a clunker in the Derby, the Long Island Acorn is the perfect match for the daughter of Messiah. I don’t see how she doesn’t do well enough to get to the Derby, it should be an interesting few weeks going forward.

Next stop was in the Danny Derby barn to check up on Wish Upon A Star. This 3YO daughter of Maelstrom flew across the track in her debut scoring a 92 Speed Figure in a Maiden race, she then tore apart the 4 horse field in the Danny Derby sponsored Kom Ons Kry Nie Te Gek Hier Stakes winning by 3 ¾ lengths scoring an 86 Speed Figure, both races were dominating, and proved she was the real deal. Her next race was the highly anticipated Steward’s Cup Juvenile where she would meet up with a host of talented fillies, including Skyfall, though Rekindle the Flame took home the trophy, Wish Upon A Star still managed an 97 SF for her second place finish. The top four fillies in the Juvenile Fillies ran an 86 SF or higher, this was a very deep field staked full of future stars, so a second place finish was nothing to be ashamed of.

As Wish Upon A Star prepares to make her 3YO debut Friday night, I wanted to know what it would take for Mr. Derby to ship his talented young filly to the Derby to take on Skyfall and the boys in week 6. When asked how he is going about preparing Wish Upon A Star for a potential showdown with the opposite sex in the Derby he had this to say. "Taking it one start at a time with her, if she wins Friday night I'll give her an opportunity to take on males W4 Friday, if that happens, I'll see how she performs and if I think she belongs in the Derby field, she'll go”. When asked about a contingency plan if the Derby plan falls through he told me this, “Backup plan would be the Oaks, even if she skips the Derby I've got half a mind to try her in the Long Island Classic, I think she'd relish 12F." It just so happens that Wish Upon A Star was triumphant in her race Friday night bringing her one step closer to that goal, I also agree with Danny here, the Long Island Classic looks mighty tempting for his young filly, the backup plan looks just as good as the first one minus the chance to do what very few fillies have done.

I only recall a few races that had the potential to be something very very special, I haven’t been in the SIM long enough to see the unbelievable crops of the past. I believe that what I saw last year in the Juvenile Fillies involved one of those very special crops, that field of fillies was just so good and so deep that it was hard to fathom any of them being better than the other. This crop of 3YO fillies have plenty of contenders that could rival the boys and give them all they can handle, they certainly begin with the two I mentioned in this reading, but other cases can be made for Aristocrats, Rekindle the Flame, Lois Lane, Undone, and Mine, all of them have posted astronomical numbers in one or more of their races. This is a very deep crop of fillies, the deepest I’ve seen in my time in the SIM, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them running with the boys countless times this year, and with a win for both of our featured fillies in their week 2 preps, it looks like they are right on track. I’m so looking forward to matching the genders one on one, could be a 12 round marathon of a fight

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