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Hard to Justify with Flavien Prat aboard after the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

World Championships
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf Results

Date: 11/3/2023

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Friday Results Summary -  Juvenile Turf Sprint -  Juvenile Fillies Turf -  Juvenile Fillies -  Juvenile Turf -  Juvenile  
Wrap Up   -   Entries   -   Monday Works   -   Tuesday Works   -   Wednesday Works   -   Thursday Works

The $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) featured 14 two-year-old fillies going 1 mile on the turf. She Feels Pretty was sent off as the 7-2 favorite off her win in the Natalma Stakes (G1) at Woodbine. In to challenge her included 15-4 second choice Porta Fortuna, winner of the Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) at Newmarket, and 17-2 third choice Buchu, winner of the Jessamine Stakes (G2) at Keeneland.

Hard to Justify leads down the stretch

Jockey Hector Berrios sent 39-1 Dreamfyre to the lead first time by through fractions of 22.91, 47.65, and 1:11.16 while pressed by 9-1 fourth choice Hard to Justify and stalked by 13-1 Austere and 29-1 Live's an Audible. Into the lane Dreamfyre continued to lead through 7f in 1:22.88 but soon tired. Hard to Justify inherited the lead under Flavien Prat and held off late-running Porta Fortuna to win by 1/2 a length in 1:34.42. It was a head back to late-running favorite She Feels Pretty third.

Hard to Justify wins the Juvenile Fillies Turf
Pgm  Horse              Jockey            Win   Place  Show
12   Hard to Justify    Prat             20.20   8.00  5.00
 6   Porta Fortuna      Murphy                   5.60  3.60
11   She Feels Pretty   Velazquez                      3.88

Winning Time:  1:34.42

$1 Exacta 12-6                        54.20
$2 Trifecta 12-6-11                  205.50
$1 Superfecta 12-6-11-5            4,086.60
Results chart

Left: Hard to Justify in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Flavien Prat said, "Good trip. She jumped well out of the gate. I was able to sit right off the pace. She was all game."

Right: The trophy presentation for the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Winning trainer Chad Brown said, "I don't mind using some fuel early to clear and she did that and hit a 47 and change half. There was mild concern at the 3/8 marker when they started to stack up outside of her. I thought maybe that post would do her in, but I knew she had some fight in her. It's just a matter of when he wanted to use that last bit of energy that she would have. Sure enough, she had plenty; more than I thought. I looked at the race form and spoke to Flavien and just said that I think she's one of the only three fillies, barring some European form that I can't see, from the American horses who is good enough to win."

Left: Hard to Justify heads out to the track. Brown added, "She's a very progressive horse who has proven she can overcome trouble. She's really very advanced for her age, mentally, and had that physical toughness to overcome a brutal trip in her first race, making a couple different runs during the race to get up. In her second race, she was forward and was always there for Flavien (Prat). He was excited to ride her here and liked her chances in the race. When we drew wide, it was very disappointing."

Right: Hard to Justify heads back to the barn after the race. Winning owner Brian Wise said, "It's really all about having the best team in the business. When I say that, it's that Chad Brown and Mike Ryan and Niall Brennan were walking together looking last fall for horses at the Keeneland sale. They spotted this horse that wasn't even on their radar at first and said, Hey, there's something about her. Then it went down to Niall in Florida. She just started training and never did anything wrong. It's luck, but it's luck that you get when you work with the best people in the world."

Left: Second place finisher Porta Fortuna returns after the race. Trainer Donnacha O'Brien said, "She's ran a great race. Oisin (Murphy) had her in a good position throughout so there's no excuses. She put her head down and tried her heart out so although we've not quite got there I'm delighted. She had a good week's training going into the race so I was hopeful but unfortunately we just weren't quite good enough on the day." Murphy added, "We had a good enough run around throughout and we got a run towards the rail up the stretch, unfortunately we couldn't quite catch the winner."

Right: Third place finisher and beaten favorite She Feels Pretty returns after the race. Trainer Cherie DeVaux said, "She stumbled coming out of the gate and Johnny (Velazquez) thought that cost her a better position. She only lost by a half-length and she was wide the whole race. Have to think that didn't help her, but she ran really well and I'm really proud of that. She had to face some adversity for the first time. She really tried to run that other horse down but it was too much, too late." Velazquez added, "I got caught up wide all the way around. My horse was running, but I had to go around those two horses on the turn and I thought she's going to have to be a champion to get there, and the other one had a little bit left, and that was the difference right there."


The fillies break from the starting gate for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Joel Rosario aboard third place finisher She Feels Pretty (2) said, "She ran great. She broke well and had a good inside trip, but I think the winner was much the best. She ran her race so we're happy with it."

Saturday Results Summary (dirt)  -  Saturday Results Summary (turf)  -  F&M Sprint -  Turf Sprint -  Dirt Mile -  F&M Turf -  Sprint -  Mile -  Distaff -  Turf -  Classic
Friday Results Summary -  Juvenile Turf Sprint -  Juvenile Fillies Turf -  Juvenile Fillies -  Juvenile Turf -  Juvenile  
Wrap Up   -   Entries   -   Monday Works   -   Tuesday Works   -   Wednesday Works   -   Thursday Works

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