Folklore

- I was way off base on Folklore, whose romp in the Matron I attributed to the futility of her opponents; I even questioned her 99 Beyer. She was pretty great winning the Juvenile Fillies, showing speed and a bit of handiness, as Edgar Prado, getting his first Breeders Cup win, was able to ease her back a bit off Knight’s Templar when that one rushed up to the lead along the inside. Still, Folklore tracked the Canadian intently through a fast half mile of :45.1, and was able to regain the lead handily as they came out of the turn, with Prado taking a peek behind to assess the competition. She tired down the stretch, but that was to be expected, and she had more than enough to hold off Wild Fit. She's a well-deserving winner in the Blog Standings and a cinch for Eclipse honors.

Folklore is from the first crop of the two-time Classic winner Tiznow, who stood for $30,000 in 2005. She’s his only stakes winner thus far; he has just four winners from 25 starters in a foal crop of 90. This is the In Reality sire line; of the eight race winners, only three are from either the Northern Dancer (Intercontinental and Artie Schiller) or Mr. Prospector (Pleasant Home) sire lines. In fact, she’s inbred to In Reality 4x4, as well as to Northern Dancer 5x5x4. She’s out of an unraced Storm Cat mare, but her second and third dams, Jeano and Basie, are both stakes winners, the latter by In Reality, so Bob and Beverly Lewis, the breeder/owners of Folklore, were following a pattern that had worked in the dam’s family before. She is to be pointed to the Kentucky Oaks.

Note: Folklore has yet to run around two turns.

Moral victory: Wild Fit closed a long way to get second, and was impeded in the process.

"She ran awesome," her trainer Jeff Mullins said. "She got steadied a little at the five-sixteenth pole. If she hadn't steadied, she might have got there. They were going fast on the lead. We probably would liked to have had her closer, but that's horseracing." [Bloodhorse]

Don’t know if he means that as criticism of Alex Solis; I thought he rode her perfectly - she could very well have been closer if not for some bad racing luck. The pace was very hot – two fifths faster than the boys mixed it up in the Juvenile – and other riders, including Bailey on Original Spin, may have moved too soon. This race is going to look good on Wild Fit's past performance lines especially with the trouble comment; but at two turns, she could be quite overbet and vulnerable in her next start. She had no excuse when she lost to Diamond Omi in the Oak Leaf, and that one finished dead last in the Juv Fillies. It may pay to follow as she prepares for a Kentucky Oaks campaign.

Big Loser: Adieu. Don’t know if “dead on the board” applies to these races with such big pools, but Adieu sure played the part on the board and on the track. Durkin noted she was going in the “wrong direction” around the turn. Many people felt she’d be favored, but she was 5-1 early, and she was barely made second choice by post time, almost reluctantly so it seemed. The Beyer boys were right again on this one.