Rushing Fall has clinched a fourth Breeders' Cup Turf title for More Than Ready with a decisive victory in the BC Juvenile Fillies-Group I at Del Mar.
Trainer Chad Brown's filly is the 21st Group 1 winner by the Vinery champion and follows his prior Breeders' Cup winners Regally Ready (Turf Sprint), Pluck (Juvenile Turf) & More Than Real (Juvenile Fillies Turf). More Than Ready becomes the first sire to claim the Juvenile Turf fillies twice and takes his record to 4 BC turf winners from 13 starters.
Settled midfield from an outside gate, the unbeaten filly was ready to
strike for Javier Castellano as the field approached the final
turn. She accelerated to a winning lead at the top of the straight and
coasted to the line in the opening race of the 2017 BC Championships.
Rushing Fall (2f More Than Ready - Autumnal by Forestry) also raced her way into favouritism for the USA 2YO Filly Eclipse Awards. She had won a Belmont juvenile maiden on debut in September before stepping up for another convincing in the Jessamine Stakes-Gr.3 at Keeneland on October 11.
"She was educated at Stonestreet and came to me so far ahead of our other two year-olds," Brown said after claiming his fourth Breeders' Cup victory on Friday. "She's a nice filly to work with although I didn't see her for three weeks when she shipped to Keeneland. I trust my great staff. Without a good team, you can't do it."
Purchased by Five Racing Thoroughbreds manager Bob Edwards for $320,000 bid at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale, she is a half-sister to Miram (Pica Slew Stakes-LR) and hails from the family of Group 1 multi-millionaire Albert the Great.
"She won the Jessamine in real soft ground and you don't see too many fillies perform that way," Castellano said. "The way she closed, I felt so confident we would win the Breeders' Cup. How good is she? We don't know!"
"I followed the front-running horses, and turning for home it was amazing. I just asked her, and she exploded. She got a powerful kick, and the way she did it, I was very impressed."
More Than Ready is currently serving his 17th southern-book at Vinery for a $66,000 (inc gst) service fee.
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