Watsdachances a Favorite for Bradley in Beverly D.

Watsdachances enters Saturday's Beverly D. with a shot at her first Grade 1 victory. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
Breaking her maiden by six lengths in her second start while racing in Ireland, Watsdachances caught the eye of bloodstock agent Peter Bradley with the win.
“She’d run a pretty fancy race over there and I liked her turn of foot,” Bradley said. “I put together partnerships and try and bring horses over every year and the price was right [for her]. While it was only a maiden race she kind of did it the right way in her second start so we put together a deal and we brought her over.”
Right from the start, Watsdachances stepped up to the plate in the United States, reeling off a win in the P.G. Johnson Stakes at Saratoga in her U.S. debut then adding the Grade 3 Miss Grillo Stakes to her record. Her season finale was a second to Flotilla by 1 ¼ lengths in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, a race that Bradley calls one of the races he was most proud of for the filly.
WATSDACHANCES (LEFT) BEFORE 2012 BREEDERS' CUP

Watsdachances’ first off-the-board finish came in her 3-year-old debut, the Appalachian, when she finished fourth. Since then, the filly has finished in that position three other times in her career, something that can partially be blamed on her late running style which has seen her as far back as 15 ½ lengths during races.
“She’s a filly that is absolutely as genuine as can be, if you look at her race record, she’s never been worse than fourth,” Bradley said. “However, she has the tendency to take herself out of the race then make a big run and when you’re trying to pass eight or nine horses and especially when you’re running against very good horses, it’s hard to get there all the time … While she’s got that turn of foot, she has a tendency to put herself too far back in a race and it makes it tough for her to get the ‘W’.”
Even though Watsdachances can find it hard to get to the front in time, the now-5-year-old mare has quite the resume. She has earned $738,894 on the track and has finished in second or third in seven stakes races with four stakes wins.
This year, Watsdachances has seemed to have come into her own. She won her first graded stakes since the Miss Grillo in her season debut over a nice field in the Gallorette, a race she finished second in last year, before finishing second by only a head in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly.
“Probably what I think is her best race to date is the Gallorette this year. I really think she’s rounded into form this year, she’s always been a bit of an overachiever. She’s been a very good filly but not an exceptional filly,” said Bradley. “But having said that, she’s a horse that gives you 100 percent every race and there’s very few that you can look down the list of their races and maybe she didn’t get there but every time she was coming and making a run at them and that doesn’t happen with very many horses.”
WATSDACHANCES AFTER HER GALLORETTE WIN

Watsdachances has only taken on Grade 1 company three times in her career, finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup race and fourth by 2 ¼ lengths or less in one try each at 3 and 4. On August 15, she will have the distinction in running in a Grade 1 every year of her racing career when she breaks from the gate in the Beverly D. for the first time.
If she wins the Beverly D., Watsdachances will accomplish two goals. The first will be to get the Grade 1 victory that has eluded her in her past tries and the second will be to earn an automatic entry into the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, a race that Bradley won in partnership with another group last year. If she wins the Beverly D., Bradley says there’s almost no way Watsdachances won’t be running at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup. But even if she doesn’t go to the Breeders’ Cup, she will be spending at least some time in Kentucky this fall.
“She is going to be sold in November and we’ll kind of plan as to whether we think she deserves to go to the Breeders’ Cup [Filly and Mare Turf] and there’s probably one or two races in between that. We’ll take a look at what’s available and how she’s training (after the Beverly D.),” Bradley said. “She needs to win a Grade 1 to increase her residual value. I think she’s in the best form she’s been in since her 2-year-old year and we really only have three or four more races left with her because the partnership dissolves at the end of her 5-year-old year. So if she’s good enough, it’s time to take a shot and what a better stage than Arlington Park on Million day.”
While a win is the goal whenever a horse enters the starting gate in a Grade 1 race, even if Watsdachances doesn’t enter the Arlington Park winner’s circle on Saturday Bradley will still list her as one of his all-time favorite fillies to own.
“You’ve got to love this filly because she’s just genuine and tries hard every time. She’d be in my top two or three just as far as how much I like her. When a horse gives you everything every race, you’ve got to have a lot of respect for them.”