Bred by John Fielding and Fred Hertrich III, Rushing Fall ($8) swept to the lead in upper stretch to win the 10th running of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (Grade 1) for two-year-old fillies by three-quarters of a length over Best Performance on Friday afternoon at Del Mar racetrack to kick off the 34th Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
Owned by E Five Racing Thoroughbreds, trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Javier Castellano, Rushing Fall covered the mile on a firm turf course in 1:36.09 in winning her third race in as many starts. The victory was a repeat for all the human connections of Rushing Fall, who were represented in the winner’s circle last year by New Money Honey.
“We had a little bit of a rough trip going into the first turn, but I was lucky to be able to save some ground in the first turn and then get to the outside. I had a perfect trip after that," said winning jockey Castellano. "She's a very professional filly. I love the way she does things. She’s a very special filly. She’s three-for-three and has won on soft turf and firm turf.”
"Javier (Castellano) rode a great race," said Brown. "The key was going out of that post and getting a spot in the first half of the field which he accomplished. From there, with a nice pace in front of us, he was comfortable where he was and he moved when he felt the time was right. She has a devastating move when you turn her loose.”
The victory was the fourth in the race for Brown, who now has nine Breeders’ Cup victories. His other Juvenile Fillies Turf winners are Maram (2008), Lady Eli (2014) and New Money Honey last year. Castellano won his eighth Breeders’ Cup race and second in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Fielding and Hertrich are also the co-breeders of Catholic Boy, who finished fourth behind winner Mendelssohn in the afternoon's $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
Fielding, a member of the Board of Directors at Woodbine Entertainment Group, recently celebrated success with another undefeated two-year-old filly, as co-owner of trotter Manchego in last weekend's Breeders Crown championships.
(With files from Del Mar)