Cristina's Journey Product of Romans' Program

Trainer Dale Romans has had success keeping his 2-year-olds in western Kentucky during July and August rather than upstate New York—and it has nothing to do with purse money.

Last year two colts, Medal Count and Cleburne, were first-out winners at Ellis Park. Cleburne followed up with a victory in the Iroquois Stakes (gr. III), while Medal Count this year won the Transylvania Stakes (gr. IIIT), finished second in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I), and was third in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I).

This year, Danny Boy, a Harlan's Holiday colt, broke his maiden in his career debut at Ellis, and then finished fourth in the Iroquois and second in the Bourbon Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland. And there's the undefeated 2-year-old filly Cristina's Journey, who won first out at Ellis and then won the grade II Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Cristina's Journey, by Any Given Saturday   out of the Dixie Union mare Toss the Feather, shipped Oct. 14 to Santa Anita Park, where she's scheduled to compete in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I). The filly, owned by GSN Racing, is set to work Oct. 18 and then once more the following weekend.

"She has never done anything wrong," Romans said Oct. 17. "Actually, she hasn't had a bad day since we started breaking her. She got (to California) Tuesday, and hasn't had a bad day there."

A $37,000 purchase at the 2013 Keeneland September yearling sale, Cristina's Journey was bred in Kentucky by Phil Needham, Judy Needham, and Bena Halecky. She has won at six furlongs and 1 1/16 miles, both times on the lead.

There have been some nice performances by 2-year-old fillies this year, and the talent seems well spread out heading into the year-end championship.

"Unless there is a standout, it's one of the more difficult races to handicap," Romans said. "It's hard to go off numbers. It's really about knowing your horse and making sure it fits in the race."

Romans' reasoning for keeping Cristina's Journey and other 2-year-olds at Ellis Park in the summer is tied to the pace of training and the racing environment. He said gearing up a young horse for a tough 2-year-old maiden race at Saratoga Race Course can be a negative.

"A lot of 2-year-olds are put under pressure to win their maiden at Saratoga," Romans said. "Unless the horse is a super-freak, it's counterproductive because you have to squeeze them so tight.

"I leave the 2-year-olds behind at Ellis because if they're really good, they'll break their maiden, go on, and nobody really cares what the purse was. If they're not really good, they wouldn't win at Saratoga anyway. I'd rather they have time to develop and have a good experience at Ellis Park."

A recent analysis by The Blood-Horse MarketWatch shows that Ellis Park ranks 11th among all North American racetracks by percentage of graded stakes winners from maiden winners at 5.6%. It trails only the higher-profile tracks with much larger purses and more opportunities for 2-year-olds.

Last year's Pocahontas winner, Untapable, didn't have the best of trips in the Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita and was eased. But she bounced back this year to win three grade I stakes, including the Longines Kentucky Oaks.