Undefeated in three starts at Churchill Downs, including back-to-back wins in her two most recent races, Juddmonte’s Scylla takes on five other fillies and mares as the 6-5 morning-line favorite in a salty edition of the $500,000 Fleur de Lis (G2) on Saturday.
Scylla. Coady Photo.
Scylla is so far undefeated at Churchill Downs
Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the 4-year-old Tapit filly broke her maiden at first asking last April 15 at Keeneland, rallying from eighth to power past favored Zeitlos for a 2 ½-length victory, and wrapped up her 3-year-old season in June with an 8 ¼-length score in an optional claimer at Churchill, having earned triple digit Equibase speed figures in both.
Sent off at 1-2 in her first start of 2024, she came up a neck short after a stretch long duel going a mile at Gulfstream Park in March, and in her first graded stakes outing was third, beaten 4 ¾ lengths in the April 19 Doubledogdare (G3) at Keeneland. Once returned to Churchill Downs, she zipped to a seven-length triumph on Kentucky Derby day, and most recently picked up her first graded stakes win on June 1 in the Shawnee (G3) with the addition of blinkers.
Regular rider Javier Castellano is back in the irons, and the pair will leave from post 4.
Four of her five competitors have graded stakes wins under their girths as well, including Shawnee runner-up Xigera (9-2), winner of the Mother Goose (G2) in October at Aqueduct and the Fall City (G3) a month later at Churchill Downs; Shotgun Hottie (4-1) and Occult (6-1), who took the Molly Pitcher (G3) and Monmouth Oaks (G3), respectively, last summer at Monmouth Park, and Taxed (5-1), a 1 ¾-length winner of the Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico on Preakness Eve in 2023.
Spotlight on Free Like a Girl: From Remington Park Oaks to Fleur de Lis
The fifth, Free Like a Girl, has been no worse than third in five of six graded stakes starts, most recently finishing second to Idiomatic in the La Troienne (G1) and third to Adare Manor in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1). En route to $1.6 million in earnings, the 5-year-old mare also placed third in the 2024 Houston Ladies Classic (G3), second in the Remington Park Oaks (G3) and Charles Town Oaks (G3) inn 2022, third in that year’s Iowa Oaks (G3), and fourth in her first graded start, the – all Grade 3 events – and fourth in the 2022 edition of the Honeybee (G3).
The peripatetic daughter of El Deal, 6-1 on the morning line, is 17-11-6 in 39 lifetime starts.
The 1 1/8-mile Fleur de Lis, which appears on the resume of champions as champions Midnight Bisou, Rachel Alexandra, Escena, Royal Delta and Serena’s Song, is part of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Dozen series where the top three finishers receive a part of their entry fees should they enter the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Del Mar.
The Fleur de Lis is race 8 on a card with six stakes races, headlined by the $1 million Stephen Foster (G1) for 4-year-olds and up.
For online horse betting aficionados.
The picks for online horse bettors: 1 Scylla 2 Feel Like a Girl 3 Occult
The field for the $500,000 Fleur de Lis (G2), from the rail out, with jockey, trainers, odds:
1 Free Like a Girl (Corie Lanerie, Chasey Pomier), 6-1
2 Shotgun Hottie (Paco Lopez, Cherie DeVaux), 4-1
3 Taxed (Brian Hernandez, Jr., Randy Morse), 5-1
4 Scylla (Javier Castellano, Bill Mott), 6-5
5 Occult (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Chad Brown), 6-1
6 Xigera (Julien Leparoux, Philip Bauer), 9-2