The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a race for 2-year-old females.

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies

Three Breeders' Cup Challenge winners in 2021 Juvenile Fillies

Three Breeders' Cup Challenge winners are among those entered $2 million 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at 1 1/16 miles.

L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds' Echo Zulu has dominated East Coast 2-year-old fillies with runaway Grade 1 victories in the Spinaway at Saratoga and the Frizette at Belmont Park for trainer Steve Asmussen.

From Kentucky, Hidden Brook Farm and Black Type Thoroughbreds' Hidden Connection, trained by Bret Calhoun, gained an automatic starting position by winning the Pocahontas Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs in September.

Albaugh Family Stables' Juju's Map scored a "Win and You're In" invitation by taking Keeneland's Darley Alcibiades (G1) on Oct. 8 for trainer Brad Cox.

Hidden Connection

Undefeated in two starts, Hidden Connection earned her way to the Breeders' Cup with an eye-catching 9 1/4-length romp in the Pocahontas Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs, a "Win and You're In" race for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).

Her dominance over nine rivals in the Pocahantas echoed the ease with which she dispatched seven juvenile fillies in her debut, a 7 1/2-length score at Colonial Downs in 1:07.21, just .02 seconds off the track record. Making the Pocahontas win even more impressive, she not only jumped right into stakes company in just her second start, but also stretched out from 5 1/2 furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth. Both races were run over fast dirt, and in both she sat just behind the pace early before leaving the field far behind.

Hidden Connection has been a quick study on the racetrack, but took a while to find her stride in the sales ring. Bred by St. Simon Place, she first was offered in the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, but failed to meet her minimum, or reserve, price. She next turned up in the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, when Mike Pender took her for $40,000. The following year she was entered in the April OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training and again failed to reach her reserve.

Two months later, in the OBS June Sale of Two-Year-Olds & Horses of Racing Age, the five partners of Hidden Brook Farm paid $85,000 for her, $30,000 over her reserve in April. With $207,525 in the bank, she already has earned almost two-and-a-half times her sale price. After her first race, Black Type Thoroughbreds joined as partner.

Trainer Bret Calhoun has saddled a dozen starters in the World Championships. Two were winners, both in 2010: Chamberlain Bridge in the Turf Sprint (G2) and Dubai Majesty in the Sentient Jet Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). Dubai Majesty was named the year's Eclipse Award Champion Female Sprinter. Calhoun began training in 1994 at age 29 after spending five years as a newspaper advertising salesman. His career change took him back to his roots; he is the son of William "Buddy" Calhoun, who trained horses at Louisiana Downs while working full-time as a schoolteacher.

Hidden Connection is from the first crop of the young stallion Connect, a Grade 1-winning son of Curlin currently ranked second among first crop sires. Her dam is C J's Gal.

Juju's Map

Juju's Map travels to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) after a win in the Darley Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland. In this qualifier, the bay filly cruised to a 4 ¼-length victory, improving her record to two wins and one second from three career starts and providing her with a paid, automatic entry to the championship weekend through the Challenge Series.

"When I asked her down the lane, she gave me another gear, the kind of effort you want to see, and hopefully she's going into the Breeders' Cup in the right way," jockey Florent Geroux said.

Trainer Brad Cox also conditions Classic contenders Knicks Go and Essential Quality. Two years ago, he won the Alcibiades with British Idiom, and weeks later she repeated in the Juvenile Fillies. He has seven wins in the championship series, including victories from standouts Monomoy Girl and Covfefe.

"[Juju's Map] sat close to a hot pace and was still able to finish, and I thought, 'That's what good horses do,'" Cox said. "She broke running, Florent put her in a good position, and she finished up well. I'm very proud of her performance. It was a good trip last time and hopefully she can show up and run her race and be very effective."

The bay filly is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Liam's Map, winner of the 2015 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

She is owned by Albaugh Family Stables, who campaigned several Breeders' Cup starters, including Dennis' Moment, Free Drop Billy and Brody's Cause. They are the Des Moines, Iowa-based racing operation of Dennis Albaugh and his son-in-law, Jason Loutsch. Albaugh became interested in racing during childhood trips to now-closed Ak-Sar-Ben race track. Later in life, he mortgaged his home to start a pesticide company. The gamble paid off. Today Albaugh is a multibillion-dollar international company and a worldwide leader in crop protection. He is recognized as one of Iowa's first billionaires.

2024 BREEDERS' CUP RACE SCHEDULE

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Recent Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Winners

• Springboard Mile at Remington Park - Dec 13
• Bet Aqueduct Racetrack | Nov 7 - Dec 29
• Bet Santa Anita Park | Dec 26 - Apr 6
• Bet Tampa Bay Downs | Nov 20 - May 3

Race Tracks	Time (ET)

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