Starship Jubilee Assigned Top Weight in Hillsborough

Blue Heaven Farm's Starship Jubilee was assigned the top weight for the $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes (G2T) March 7 on the Tampa Bay Downs turf after kicking off her 7-year-old campaign with two consecutive stakes victories for trainer Kevin Attard.

"I couldn't be happier with her. Her confidence is high," Attard said. "Obviously, she had two great starts to start off the campaign this year. It's a new turf course for her, but she's handled everything that's come her way, so it shouldn't be an issue."

The Indy Wind  mare has only improved with age—she began her 6-year-old campaign in Florida at Gulfstream Park, winning the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Stakes before going on to place second or third in four other graded stakes and winning the Canadian Stakes Presented by the Japan Racing Association (G2T) and the E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine.

This year, the mare returned to win the same Filly and Mare Stakes in her debut over fellow Hillsborough entrant Beautiful Lover and then followed it up with another win in the Feb. 8 Suwannee River Stakes (G3T) over another Hillsborough contender, Magic Star.

Starship Jubilee, the oldest among the field of 12 fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles, has won 16 of her 34 starts and placed in eight others. She will be ridden by Javier Castellano from post 7 while carrying 123 pounds.

Should Starship Jubilee continue to progress, there is a chance fans could see her at the Breeders' Cup in November.

"If we could get to the Breeders' Cup—she'd have to be supplemented—I think that's something that might be considered, and if not, we can take the same route we did last year with her. We've got the E. P. Taylor basically in our backyard at Woodbine, and we could try to defend that title if we want to as well," Attard said.

Starship Jubilee's main competition will come from either side of the gate, with the lightly raced Magic Star to her inside in post 3 and Hanalei Moon and Jehozacat to her outside in posts 9 and 10, respectively.

One of three entrants for trainer Chad Brown, Magic Star has won two of her four starts, including the Jan. 11 Marshua's River Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream. The 4-year-old Scat Daddy filly, who has been training at Payson Park, was a $500,000 purchase by her owner, Don Alberto Stable, when she was consigned to the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by Betz Thoroughbreds.

She broke her maiden going 1 1/16 miles on turf at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 24 and then placed sixth in a Belmont Park allowance. Off for the rest of the year, she returned in the Marshua's River.

Brown also has Beautiful Lover in post 8 and Altea in the outside post.

Hanalei Moon will be making her first start in more than five months for trainer Mark Casse. The Malibu Moon  mare was last seen finishing fifth in the Oct. 5 First Lady Stakes Presented by UK HealthCare (G1T) at Keeneland. Before that, she won the One Dreamer Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Jehozacat has also kicked off 2020 on a successful note, and the 5-year-old Tapit  mare comes into Saturday's test off wins at Tampa Bay in the Wayward Lass Stakes and the Feb. 8 Lambholm South Endeavor Stakes (G3T), in which she defeated Altea by a neck.

Trained by Arnaud Delacour for Lael Stables, Jehozacat nearly doubled her earnings with her two wins this year.

Juliana is scheduled to make her North American debut in the Hillsborough after racing at the top level in her native Peru. The 5-year-old mare by Eye On Jacob is trained by Ignacio Correas for owner Puerta Cerrada Stable.

Entries: Hillsborough S. (G2T)

Tampa Bay Downs, Saturday, March 07, 2020, Race 9

• Grade IIT
• 1 1/8m
• Turf
• $225,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 4:25 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Dynatail (KY)	Jose C. Ferrer	118	Michael Dini	15/1
2	2Get Explicit (KY)	Samy Camacho	118	Barbara J. Minshall	20/1
3	3Magic Star (KY)	John R. Velazquez	120	Chad C. Brown	4/1
4	4Juliana (PER)	Joe Bravo	118	Ignacio Correas, IV	15/1
5	5Kelsey's Cross (FL)	Florent Geroux	118	Patrick L. Biancone	20/1
6	6Wish Upon (NY)	Pablo Morales	118	John P. Terranova II	15/1
7	7Starship Jubilee (FL)	Javier Castellano	123	Kevin Attard	2/1
8	8Beautiful Lover (FL)	Paco Lopez	118	Chad C. Brown	6/1
9	9Hanalei Moon (KY)	Antonio A. Gallardo	118	Mark E. Casse	8/1
10	10Jehozacat (KY)	Daniel Centeno	120	Arnaud Delacour	8/1
11	11Lady Oxbow (KY)	Jesus Lopez Castanon	118	J. Kent Sweezey	30/1
12	12Altea (FR)	Julien R. Leparoux	118	Chad C. Brown	8/1