Capla Temptress Has an Edge for Juvenile Fillies Turf

Team Valor has taken plenty of cuts at the Breeders' Cup, and visited the winner's circle in 2010 when 2-year-old Pluck won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G2T) off a graded stakes win at Woodbine. Team Valor head Barry Irwin is back again this year with Capla Temptress for the Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) at Del Mar... with a stakes win at Woodbine under her belt.

The Irish-bred daughter of Ballylinch Stud's Lope de Vega holds an experience edge on experience over the cast as a two-time winner in England and a grade 1 winner in North America, scoring in the Sept. 17 Natalma Stakes (G1T) in Canada. She shares grade 1 status with Aidan O'Brien-trained Happily for the one-mile Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Bred by Pier House Stud and a $29,263 Goffs Orby yearling sale purchase, Capla Temptress made her first start for Capla Developments and Les Boyer before being purchased by Team Valor. The debut, a win, came over a synthetic surface at Chelmsford. The second, another win, was on soft turf at Newmarket July 22.

"Her first race ... I would call it 'workmanlike,'" said Irwin. "I do a lot of work with the trainer, Marco Botti, so I found out she was for sale, but I wasn't that interested. When she came back and won at Newmarket impressively with what looked like a good turn of foot, I reached in and made an offer and was able to buy her."

With the Breeders' Cup in mind, they tested group company in the Aug. 12 German-Thoroughbred.com Sweet Solera Stakes (G3), running third. She was shipped to North America and turned over to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, but there was an issue.

"She is a completely lazy horse in the morning; she just doesn't care," Irwin said. "The first time I saw her work on a video, I was so disheartened. She got outworked by a maiden that came back and got dusted. That was depressing. I called the assistant, Marco's wife, Lucy, and I said, 'Watch this work.' She said, 'Yeah, that's her. She's gotten smart and doesn't put out in the morning but she brings it in the afternoon, so don't worry about it.'

"She worked again like that but at least she galloped out well. She's like a lot of good horses, she just won't give it to you in the morning."

But she gave it in the afternoon, winning the Natalma by three-quarters of a length over Dixie Moon.

"I just think European horses like Woodbine's turf course," Irwin said of the angle. "It has wide turns and it's not claustrophobic like some of our tracks and they know how to treat foreign horses. I think Woodbine is the best training place in North America."

And now she's poised for a run at Del Mar.

"The reason I bought her for this race, specifically, is because she has a turn of foot," Irwin said. "I think a lot of European horses are likely not to handle that course (Del Mar). First of all, you have to come out of a chute to make a sharp turn, then you have to make another turn, and the stretch isn't very long. Horses that fire in the stretch win those races. We're hoping she gets a nice trip and doesn't get an outside post and will be in line to fire."

Capla Temptress has made the trip from England to Southern California. Team Valor hopes she gets the trip Nov. 3.