Several promising fillies have made their mark from the class of 2012, other fillies are lightly raced have also hinted at Stakes potential.
Below are 15 fillies I’m keeping an eye on for 2015 for the early spring races. Similar to the Colts I’m using Pedigree, Performance and Trip Notes to project horses who may have the ability to improve and run in the Graded distance races in the spring and summer of 2015.
#15 – Light the City – Jerry Hollendorfer – Street Sense – Stakes Winner
Distance pedigree and fast workout have this filly ready to roll in early January for Team Hollendorfer. Opened career with a stylish win and then made it two in a row in the Anoika Stakes. Disappointed in last race as the favorite in small field, where she was forced to press the pace from the bell. Workout tab has been sharp and Santa Ynez is next for this filly with a distance pedigree and solid developmental bottom as a Juvenile. Could be ranked higher. Street Sense brings speed and early development, while the broodmare sire A. P. Indy adds some class and distance from the female side.
#14 Overprepared – Todd Pletcher – Quality Road – MSW Winner
Debuted with an impressive victory at Belmont, showing speed and taking command and the half mile pole. Quality Road and Dayjur indicate speed in the pedigree, was disappointing in 2nd career start. Look for her down at Gulfstream with an eye to New York for a final prep.
#13 – Take Charge Brandi – Wayne Lukas – G1 Stakes Winner
Champion Juvenile filly in waiting closed out the year with 3 gritty races. Breeders Cup Juvenile and Starlet were similar races, horses lined up to take her on and she was resilient down the lane. Long, hard campaign as a juvenile. Will winter in Arkansas, will be interesting to see how she comes back off the layoff. Gut instinct is other horses will catch up and maybe pass her physically. She won 3 hard-fought races with close finishes, her margin for error is small.
#12 – Feathered – Todd Pletcher – Indian Charlie – Stakes Placed
Broke maiden at the Spa by 9 lengths, then came back and lost in the slot at Frizette. Closed the year with a narrow loss while running at the rail in the Starlet, may have waited too long in that race. Has the speed to be on the lead, but has been rated in the last couple of races. Pedigree is speed over distance by Indian Charlie out of a Dynaformer mare. Solid juvenile campaign with lots of shipping and ran strong races. Needs to improve and have a feeling she will run better on the lead.
#11 – Quezon – Robert Ribaudo – Tiz Wonderful – Stakes Winner
Two impressive New York restricted victories to start career before disappointing in the Demoiselle. Tiz Wonderful and Olympio are both speed influences so 9 furlongs is questionable. Quick turn of food and should run on all surfaces. Should come back this spring in New York. Tiz Wonderfuls are fast, but they are also fragile, so hopefully she can rebound from Demoiselle effort.
#10 – Condo Commando – Rudy Rodriguez – Multiple Stakes Winner
Tiz Wonderful filly was “Splashtastic” at the spa, followed by a disappointing effort in the Frizette, came back in the Demoiselle with a big victory. Tough to judge her ability. She was able to take advantage of a sloppy track, did not like the Frizette mud and dominated with an inside trip on an extremely biased Demoiselle race day. The pedigree say precocious and early developing and she has run 4 races so may not have as much improvement, but current form places her in the top 15, but will need to improve to be a serious Oaks horse as the pedigree is not ideal for 9 furlongs in Grade 1 company.
#9 – Lady Eli – Chad Brown – Divine Park – Graded Stakes Winner
Only ranks this low because there have been no indications to try dirt and the 3-year-old filly preps in the spring. Was dominating the Breeders Cup Filly Turf and put on a highlight show with a quick burst of speed and drawing away from a strong field. No workouts of late and not sure if they will try dirt and go the Oaks route. Pedigree says turf and all 3 lifetime races are on turf at route distances. Dominating filly has a chance to be something special in the turf division in 2015. Do they have Oaks Fever is the question?
#8 – Top Decile – Albert Stall – Congrats – Graded Stakes Placed
Pedigree says speed but this filly showed promise at Saratoga in Debut with a win at 5 furlongs. Then came from off the pace at Keeneland, before finishing the year with a closing finish in the Breeders Cup Juvenile in a race that she may have been best. Connections have indicated they are pointing to Oaks with a 2 prep campaign. Will need a new jockey in 2015 with Rosie Napravnik retiring, 2nd prep may be at Keeneland.
#7 – Enchanting Lady – Bob Baffert – Tale of the Cat – Stakes Winner
Started career early in May with a 2nd place finish and won the Ladaluce Stakes in June. Was shelved for the rest of the summer and fall, but has a long string of works in December and should race in February at some point. Bob Baffert has used Sunland as a Filly stomping ground in recent years. With 2 races and some established speed and class come move forward quickly in 2015.
#6 – No Fault of Mine – Chris Block – Blame – Stakes Placed
Two impressive efforts for this cleverly named daughter of Blame. Dominated a Maiden Special Weight race at Arlington with a visual turn of foot going into the turn. Came back in the Golden Rod and came from off the pace while running wide and falling short of West Coast Belle. A long wide sustained run was a solid effort off a small layoff. Should run all day and an exciting prospect to watch in 2015.
#5 – Wonder Gal – Leah Gyarmati – Tiz Wonderful – Stakes Placed
Electrifying maiden win followed by a serious of questionable rides and tough races. The latent talent is always able to kick out at some point. New York based filly should back at Aqueduct this winter for a spring campaign. In the Adirondack she was forced inside and never really had running room and was a little intimidated. The Frizette she caught a sloppy track and never showed punch in the lane. Lot’s of excuses for this horse, but still feel there is a “break-out” effort coming in the spring of 2015.
#4 – Jacaranda – Michael Hushion – Congrats – Stakes Winner
Unwrapped her career at Belmont with a 5 length victory at the tough distance of 6.5 furlongs. Dominated the Tempted G3 by 3 lengths when stretched out to a mile. Entered in the Demoiselle was scratched the day of the race, which was probably a good thing since the track was very inside biased that day. Jacaranda is a half-brother to Constitution but adds Congrats to the Sire side. Very promising start so far but on paper and visually can compete with the best of this class. Connections are patient and they may be thinking summer campaign.
#3 – Tall And Sweet – Jerry Hollendorfer – Lemon Drop Kid – MSW Winner
Jerry Hollendorfer debuted this filly at Los Al and she came from off the pace and won in dominating fashion by 4 lengths with a strong gallop out. Looks like a router and has the pedigree to match. Long string of works leading to debut. Needs to develop quickly but well muscled filly could go straight to stakes races. Lemon Drop Kid has long been a distance influence and Pulpit adds to the distance equation. Horse like this get trainers up early in the morning.
#2 – West Coast Belle – Wayne Catalano – Tapit – Stakes Winner
Capped off an impressive Juvenile campaign with a 3 for 3 record and winning the Golden Rod and Rags to Riches Stakes at Churchill Downs. Small filly has a lot of heart, quick stride and relaxes in races. Push button speed and working down at the Fairgrounds for a campaign. Tapit filly will try to follow in the footsteps of many recent Fairgrounds fillies like Rachel Alexandra and Untappable.
#1 – Via Strata – Kiaran McLaughlin – Street Cry – MSW winner
Huge filly came from off the pace and dominated a Maiden race at the Big A. Took half the race to put those long legs together, but switched leads and left a solid group in her wake. Only 1 race, and huge filly has a long way to go but the upside is tremendous with a horse like this. Street Cry adds some stamina and the mare Golden Velvent was a multiple Graded Stakes winner with wins in the Sixty Sails handicap and Sabin Handicap, while also running 2nd in the Ogden Phipps handicap at 8.5 furlongs to the brilliant Ginger Punch and running 5th in the Personal Ensign again losing to Ginger Punch.