The world's best female grass horses compete in this 1 1/4 mile race on the Santa Anita turf course for a $2 million purse.

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf

The 2022 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf will be held at Keeneland on Saturday, November 5th. Bet & watch the race with OffTrackBetting.com (OTB) - US Legal Online Wagering.

Lady Speightspeare

Lady Speightspeare, a Speightstown filly owned and bred by Charles Fipke and trained by Roger Attfield, won her career debut by 3 ¾ lengths in a seven-furlong turf race at Woodbine on Aug. 22, 2020. That effort gave her connections confidence to start her in the Sept. 20 Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine, a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

The filly acted up in the starting gate and unseated jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson, but then settled down and broke well to stalk longshot Big Big Plans in second through the far turn before taking the lead in early stretch. Lady Speightspeare improved to 2-for-2 with a game three-quarter length win in the one-mile Natalma and punched her ticket to the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland in November.

Lady Speightspeare missed that year's Breeders' Cup with a knee injury, and did not return to the races until Sept. 6, 2021. She came back with an impressive two-length win in a second-level allowance optional claiming race at Woodbine, to run her record to 3-for-3.

Lady Speightspeare was entered in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland on Oct. 16, but was scratched at the gate. Undeterred, she returned to Woodbine and won the Grade 2 Bessarabian Stakes on Nov. 13.

On July 2, 2022, Lady Speightspeare won for the first time in 2022, snapping a streak of five consecutive defeats. She battled gamely on the inside and finished in a dead-heat with Crystal Cliffs in the Grade 2 Nassau Stakes. That gave her trainer, Roger Attfield, his 2,000th career victory. She switched back to the synthetic main track at Woodbine for only the second time in her career in the Grade 3 Trillium Stakes Aug. 13 and, despite a wide trip, she reeled in runner-up Dreaming of Drew in the stretch and powered clear to prevail in 1:45.75 for 1 1/16 miles.

Lady Speightspeare is out the Grade 2-winning Theatrical mare Lady Shakespeare, a full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner and millionaire Shakespeare. Other members of this filly's accomplished female family include Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Perfect Shirl and Grade 1 winner Lady Shirl (Lady Speightspeare's second dam).

Going to Vegas

After three graded stakes placings in 2020, Going to Vegas broke through for her first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes at Santa Anita Park on March 27, 2021. Umberto Rispoli put her on the early lead, and set slow fractions. As such, no one was able to catch up, and she scampered clear in the stretch for the win, defeating heavy favorite Mucho Unusual in the process.

A few months later, Going to Vegas won the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar on Sept. 4, coming from off the pace for the victory.

Going to Vegas made her next start on Oct. 2, in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita. She set the early pace and fended off Luck in the stretch to win by a head, for her first Grade 1 victory. She also earned a spot in the starting gate for the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6. She closed her 4-year-old season with an unplaced finish in the Filly & Mare Turf.

Going to Vegas retained her strong form in 2022, finishing second in each of her first three starts in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes in March, the Grade 3 Santa Ana three weeks later, and the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes in May, all at Santa Anita Park.

Nashwa

Nashwa dueled for the lead in the early stages of the Group 1 Prix de Diane Longines (French Oaks), put away Agave with about a furlong left to race, and then battled gamely to hold off the late charge of La Parisienne and prevail by a neck in the French classic for 3-year-old fillies June 19, 2022, at Chantilly.

A homebred Frankel filly for Imad Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud Farm, Nashwa won the Haras de Bouquetot Fillies' Trial Stakes May 14 at Newbury before running third June 3 at Epsom Downs in the Group 1 Cazoo Oaks.

Group 1-placed stakes winner Princess Loulou, by Pivotal, is the dam (mother) of Nashwa.

Above the Curve

Above the Curve finished third in her debut and only start as a 2-year-old in October 2021. She returned with a sharp 2 ¾-length score in a 1 ¼-mile race at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland on April 6, 2022, and then finished second by a neck in her stakes debut, the May 4 Weatherbys Bloodstock Pro Cheshire Oaks Robert Sangster Memorial Cup at Chester in England.

The daughter of 2015 Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah then scored a breakthrough win in the Group 1 St Mark's Basilica Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary at ParisLongchamp in France, taking the 1 ¼-mile race by length on May 29. After three months off, trainer Joseph O'Brien then brought Above the Curve back to Ireland for a start in the Sept. 11, Group 2 Moyglare Jewels Blandford Stakes at the Curragh, which she won by a neck.

Above the Curve is out of the unraced Galileo (IRE) mare Fabulous and is a full sister (same sire [father] and dam [mother]) to Group 3-placed Thinking of You. Fabulous (IRE) is a half-sister (same dam [mother], different sire [father]), to European Horse of the Year, Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up, and leading sire Giant's Causeway.

Tuesday

Coolmore homebred Tuesday won her maiden in her 3-year-old debut (her second career start) in a one-mile race at Naas Racecourse on March 27, 2022 for trainer Aidan O'Brien. She finished third in the Group 1 English One Thousand Guineas on May 1 at Newmarket, and then second in the Group 1 Irish One Thousand Guineas at the Curragh on May 22 before breaking through for her first stakes win in the Group 1 Cazoo Epsom Oaks in her first stretchout to 1 ½ miles on June 3. She next finished fourth versus males in the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby on June 25 and then finished second to Alpinista in the Group 1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks on Aug. 18.

Following that, Tuesday finished fourth in the Qatar Prix Vermeille at 1 ½ miles on Sept. 11 and the Prix De l'Opera Longines at 1 ¼ miles on Oct. 2, both at Longchamp in France.

Tuesday was bred in Ireland by the sire Galileo out of the mare Lillie Langtry, by Danehill Dancer. Lillie Langtry was a multiple Group 1 winner of the equivalent of more than $1.3 million. In addition to Tuesday, Lillie Langtry is the dam (mother) of three other group stakes winners by Galileo, including $3.2 million earner and English One Thousand Guineas and English Oaks winner Minding.

Toy

Toy won her maiden race as a 3-year-old in a seven-furlong grass race at Cork Racecourse in Ireland on April 16, 2022. She was immediately sent to face Group 1 competition by her trainer, Aidan O'Brien for owner Michael Tabor, but trips to Longchamp for the Emirates Poule d'Essai de Pouliches (French One Thousand Guineas) and to Chantilly for the Prix De Diane yielded 11th- and 12th-place finishes, respectively. Her breakthrough came on July 16 back in Ireland at the Curragh when she finished second in the Group 1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks going 1 ½ miles. She tallied her first stakes win two starts later when victorious by a half-length in the Irish Stallion Farms E.B.F. Garnet Stakes Oct. 16 at Naas Racecourse.

Toy is a namesake of the Thoroughbred descendant mare Toy, bred in 1760, whose grandsire was the original Godolphin Arabian. The current Irish-bred Toy was sired by Galileo out of the Group 2-winning mare You'resothrilling, by Storm Cat. You'resothrilling is a full sister (same sire [father] and dam [mother]) to European Horse of the Year and influential sire Giant's Causeway. She has also produced six other group stakes winners by Galileo - all full siblings to Toy - led by English and Irish Two Thousand Guineas winner Gleneagles and Irish One Thousand Guineas winner Marvellous.

Family Way

Family Way, a 5-year-old Uncle Mo mare owned by Hunter Valley Farm, Debra O'Connor and Marc Detampel, earned her first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Orchid Stakes at Gulfstream Park on April 2, 2022.

Prior to that, she had assembled a solid career through 13 starts that began in France, where she won two out of six races. Family Way won her second start in the U.S. during May 2021 at Churchill Downs and then was elevated to stakes company by trainer Brendan Walsh. She tallied her first stakes win in September 2021 at the Kentucky Downs meet and began her 5-year-old season with a good runner-up finish to Virginia Joy in the Grade 3 The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream on March 5 before breaking through in the 1 ½-mile Orchid with a rallying 1 ¾-length win.

Kentucky-bred Family Way is out of the winning Giant's Causeway mare Susie's Baby and is a relative of English Group 1 winner Caravaggio.

Rougir

Originally based in her native France, Rougir won her first Group 1 race there on Oct. 3, 2021, when she took the Prix de l'Opera Longines at Longchamp by a nose. Off that performance, the daughter of Group 1 winner Territories shipped to the United States for the first time for the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6. She finished a non-threatening seventh after getting into some traffic trouble early.

For her 2022 season, Rougir joined the powerhouse Chad Brown barn and made her first start for that stable in the Grade 3 Beaugay Stakes at Belmont Park on May 14. She rallied wide in the stretch to win as the odds-on favorite.

Rougir was sent off at odds on again in her second 2022 start, the Grade 1 New York Stakes at Belmont on June 10, but the 0.65-1 favorite failed to fire and finished fifth of seven in a race won by stablemate Bleecker Street.

Rougir is owned by Peter Brant and Michael Tabor, the latter of the Coolmore Group. Brant and Coolmore purchased her for over $3.9 million at the Arqana December 2021 breeding stock sale in France before moving her to the U.S.

Virginia Joy

After a successful 3-year-old campaign in her home country of Germany, including a win in the Group 3 Mehl-Mulhens Trophy Stakes, Virginia Joy was shipped to the United States and was transferred to trainer Chad Brown for her 4-year-old season in 2021. She started her year with a win in a second-level, allowance-optional claiming race at Belmont Park on Apr. 23, and ended her season with a narrow nose defeat in the River Memories Stakes at Belmont Park on July 11.

After an eight-month layoff, Virginia Joy returned to the races for her 5-year-old campaign and was the odds-on favorite in the Grade 3 The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Mar. 5, 2022. After rating off a slow pace, she moved after the leaders in the stretch and rallied to win by a length. Next out, she went gate-to-wire on a yielding turf course to win the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay Stakes at Belmont Park on May 7 by 14 1/4 lengths.

Virginia Joy followed up her two victories to begin 2022 with a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 New York Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Belmont Park on June 10 and then a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Glens Falls at 1 1/2 miles at Saratoga on Aug. 6.

Virginia Joy found her sweet spot at 1 3/8 miles on the Saratoga turf for the biggest win to date when she went wire-to-wire in the Grade 1, $600,000 Flower Bowl on Sept. 3 over the prohibitive favorite, War Like Goddess, who had defeated her in the Glens Falls.

In the Flower Bowl, Virginia Joy went to the front and was able to slow down the pace in a masterful ride by Irad Ortiz Jr. She had enough left in reserve in the stretch run to hold off War Like Goddess by a neck in a final time of 2:19.51. The Flower Bowl was a Win and You're in race for the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, earning Virginia Joy a guaranteed starting spot in the starting gate on Nov. 5 at Keeneland.

In Italian

In Italian had high expectations from the start. This British-bred filly sold for more than $600,000 at the Tattersalls Sale in October 2019. She made her debut in a maiden special weight race at Tampa Bay Downs on March 28, 2021, and finished second, beaten by a neck. She rebounded with a 3 1/2-length win at Belmont Park on May 8, drawing off after setting a comfortable early pace.

Following that win, In Italian went to the sidelines for several months. She returned with a first-level allowance win at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 12, 2022. That race set her up nicely for the Grade 3 Honey Fox Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 5. She set the pace and got the job done for her first graded stakes win.

After leading briefly but fading to finish thing in the Grade 1 Longines Just a Game Stakes, In Italian set the pace in the $500,000 Diana Stakes July 16 at Saratoga Race Course and had plenty left in the stretch as she set a course record of 1:45.06 for 1 1/8 miles to secure her first Grade 1 win.

Moira

Moira was made the 5-2 morning line favorite in the 2022 Queen's Plate off a dominant 10 ¾-length victory in the Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser on July 24 at Woodbine.

The Ghostzapper filly won her debut in October 2021 when she romped in a stakes race at Woodbine by 4 1/4 lengths and then concluded the year with a good runner-up finish in the Mazarine Stakes. She began her 3-year-old season with a head victory in the Stella Artois Fury Stakes, her first start in six months, prior to completely outclassing the opposition in the Woodbine Oaks.

In the Aug. 21 Queen's Plate, Moira went off as the 9-5 second betting choice at post time behind Rondure. The filly sat patiently in mid-pack through the backstretch in the 1 ¼-mile classic and then unleashed a breathtaking move on the far turn to sweep past the field and win by 7 lengths under Rafael Hernandez. She improved to four wins in five starts and became the 38th filly to win the first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown. Moira also set a track record for 1 ¼ miles of 2:01.48 on the synthetic Tapeta surface.

Moira is owned by X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables and SF Racing and trained by Kevin Attard.

2024 BREEDERS' CUP RACE SCHEDULE

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What is the Breeders Cup' Filly & Mare Turf?

The Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (Grade 1) is a relative newcomer as it is the only existing series in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships races that was not a part of the original seven Breeders' Cup races group begun in 1984.

In July 1998, the Breeders' Cup board of directors voted on the decision to fill an obvious gap in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships lineup by creating this $1 million series for fillies and mares. The first Filly & Mare Turf was held in 1999 at Gulfstream Park.

Until that time, the female turf division had no definitive championship race, and distaffers were forced to race in open company. The audacious misses had to settle for competing against their male counterparts in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1). Back then, the ladies already more than held their own at the Breeders' Cup races, beginning with Royal Heroine (Ireland). She was the only filly in the field when she triumphed in the very first running of the Mile in 1984, and in the process, set a new course record at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California.

Following Royal Heroine's footsteps, Miesque snagged back-to-back wins at the Mile in 1987 and 1988, while Ridgewood Pearl (Great Britain) captured the 1995 running, moving the Mile championship for the misses up to four of the first 12 runnings. The females performed just as well in the Breeders' Cup Turf, notably, with Pebbles (Great Britain) who took the 1985 running and Miss Alleged who triumphed in 1991.

The Filly & Mare Turf was first run in 1999 at 1 3/8 miles, owing mainly to Gulfstream Park's grass course configuration, and was again contested like so in the following year. Come 2001, the distance was then shifted to 10 furlongs.

Ever since the initial running in 1999, the newer series has fulfilled its intended purpose. Phillips Racing Partnership's Soaring Softly snagged an Eclipse Award as champion turf female with a three-quarter-length victory on that first year.

In 2000 at Churchill Downs, Stronach Stable's Perfect Sting won by the same margin, 3/4 length, over Tout Charmant. Perfect Sting was subsequently voted champion turf female.

The Filly & Mare Turf (Grade 1) was first run in 1999 at 1 3/8 miles, but the distance was then shifted to 10 furlongs.

European interests in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf eventually broke through in 2001 at Belmont Park, when Juddmonte Farms' French-based Banks Hill (Great Britain) won by 5 1/2 lengths. That year, the Filly & Mare Turf was run at 1 1/4 miles for the first time, which is its prescribed distance when course configurations permit.

In 2003, the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf may have finally put the overseas runners at the fore of the Breeders' Cup map as European-trained horses swept the first three positions and European-bred horses bagged the top five. 3-1 favorite Islington stalked the pace in sixth early under Kieren Fallon, then at the top of the stretch came on strong and duelled with 47-1 shot L'Ancresse down the stretch to win by a neck in a time of 1:59. It was 2 ½ lengths back to 14-1 shot Yesterday while England-bred Heat Haze finished fourth.

2004 continued the European streak when race favorite Ouija Board of Great Britain won the championship at 0.90 odds with jockey Kieren Fallon. The runnerup was Film Maker at 16.50 odds with jockey John Velasquez while third place went to Wonder Again at 10.70 odds with jockey Edgar Prado.

Recent Breeders Cup' Filly & Mare Turf Winners