Short but Competitive Field Assembles for Fleur de Lis

While the $500,000 Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2) is listed only as a grade 2, the race has managed to lure not just grade 1 winners in its 48 revivals but also some of the most brilliant race mares in recent times. In the last five years alone, top distaffers Letruska , Midnight Bisou , and Shedaresthedevil  have graced the race's winner's circle. This year, a compact but competitive field of six older fillies and mares will assemble for the 1 1/8-mile contest June 29, with impressive last-out winners Scylla  and Shotgun Hottie  leading the charge.

Both Scylla and Shotgun Hottie enter the Fleur de Lis as fillies on the verge of taking their talents to the next level. Scylla, a Juddmonte homebred blessed with the racing genes of a champion, has been forecasted for greatness from the start, being a daughter of the illustrious stallion Tapit   and multiple grade 1 winner Close Hatches . Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who also conditioned her dam and classic-placed older full brother Tacitus  , Scylla rose to the occasion with a 3 1/4-length victory over the accomplished Xigera  in the Shawnee Stakes (G3) June 1 at Churchill Downs.

COLLINS: Scylla Carries Family Torch Into Fleur de Lis

"She's really continued to train great here with us at Churchill after the Shawnee," Mott assistant Kenny McCarthy said of Scylla. "She's shown a lot of natural talent, and she's really starting to figure it all out mentally, too. The Fleur de Lis is a tough race. We have a lot of respect for the fillies and mares she'll be facing Saturday."

There's no denying Scylla has done her best work at the Louisville oval, where she is 3-for-3. Prior to the Shawnee, Scylla delivered a seven-length score in a second-level allowance optional claimer under the twin spires. Mott fitted the 4-year-old with blinkers for the first time in the Shawnee, which led to Scylla sitting closer to the pace than in her previous five starts.

Javier Castellano, the only jockey to ride Scylla since her debut last year, is back for arguably her toughest test yet.

The Cherie DeVaux-trained Shotgun Hottie, always considered a formidable filly in her four seasons on the track, broke through with the performance of her career in the May 17 Allaire du Pont Distaff Stakes on the George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) undercard. Although the du Pont is ungraded, Shotgun Hottie earned an 111 Equibase Speed Figure for her 5 3/4-length romp, the highest in the Fleur de Lis field. A win in the Fleur de Lis would mark the fifth stakes tally, and second graded score, for the 5-year-old daughter of Gun Runner  . She's a tactical filly, giving jockey Paco Lopez a few options on where to position Shotgun Hottie, which should bode well on race day.

An underdog with a solid chance to thwart the top two will be the Louisiana-bred filly Free Like a Girl . Purchased for the bargain-basement price of $5,500 as a yearling, Free Like a Girl has bankrolled $1.6 million for owners Chasey Deville Pomier, Carl J. Deville, Gerald Bruno Jr., and Jerry Caroom. A star among state-breds, Free Like a Girl has taken her show outside of her native Louisiana in several outings and has been improving as the years go on. Defeated by a neck in the Houston Ladies Classic Stakes (G3) in January, she later raced to consecutive placings in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) and Churchill's La Troienne Stakes (G1).

Free Like a Girl, trained by Pomier, will look to add to her fairytale story in the Fleur de Lis.

Recent Churchill allowance winner Taxed , a grade 2 winner as a 3-year-old, and graded stakes winners Xigera and Occult  complete the field.

The Fleur de Lis is part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen Bonus Series, awarding $30,000 to the winner, $15,000 to the runner-up, and $7,500 to the third-place finisher to apply toward entry fees for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) Nov. 2 at Del Mar.