Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
The Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf is a Grade 1 race for fillies and mares of three years or more, run over a distance of 1ΒΌ mile. The race is run on turf, and each filly or mare carries a weight determined in relation to her age.
The mare Ouija Board, trained by Ed Dunlop in Great Britain, put any questions about her superiority to rest when she won the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, came second in the 2005 running of the race, and then won again in the 2006 Filly & Mare Turf. In an astonishingly successful career, Ouija Board won a total of 10 Group 1 races. She is one of only two horses ever to have won a Breeders’ Cup race in non-consecutive years.
For 2008, the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf is sponsored by Emirate Airlines and has a purse of $2 million.
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf Winners
Year |
Winner |
Time |
Jockey |
Trainer |
| 2007 | Lahudood | 2:22.75 | A. Garcia | K. McLaughlin |
| 2006 | Ouija Board (GB) | 2:14.55 | Lanfranco Dettori | Edward Dunlop |
| 2005 | Intercontinental | 2:02.34 | R. Berarano | R. Frankel |
| 2004 | Ouija Board | 2:18.25 | K. Fallon | E. Dunlop |
| 2003 | Islington | 1:59:00 | Kieren Fallon | Sir Michael Stoute |
| 2002 | Starine | 2:033/5 | John Velazquez | Bobby Frankel |
| 2001 | Banks Hill | 2:001/5 | Olivier Peslier | Andre Fabre |
| 2000 | Perfect Sting | 2:13:00 | Jerry Bailey | Joe Orseno |
| 1999 | Soaring Softly | 2:134/5 | Jerry Bailey | James J. Toner |
2007 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
With jockey Alan Garcia, Lahudood won the 2007 race by three-quarters of a length, just four weeks after winning the Grade 1 Flower Bowl.
The win by Lahudood came as a happy surprise for owner Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum and trainer McLaughlin, who feared that Lahudood - known to run well on firm turf - wouldn’t take well to the very soft ground at Monmouth Park, where rainy conditions prevailed. They had earlier pinned their hopes on Makderah. Makderah won the Grade 2 New York Handicap, but then had to be retired after sustaining an injury during training. As a result, Lahudood was entered in the Filly & Mare Turf in her place, at a cost of $180,000.
Honey Ryder, who came third in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, secured second position in the race. She was followed by the 5-2 favourite, Passage of Time, by a neck. Fourth position went to Nashoba’s Key.
Will the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf see a filly or mare to rival the likes of Ouija Board?
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