Bellafina Breezes for Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies

Three female contenders for the Breeders' Cup put in their final workouts for their respective races Oct. 25 at Santa Anita Park, a day ahead of their scheduled flight to Churchill Downs.

All three drilled during the 7:45 a.m. PT workout session at Santa Anita, headlined by Kaleem Shah's two-time grade 1 winner Bellafina, who breezed a half-mile in :47 2/5 under exercise rider Serafin Carmona while trainer Simon Callaghan observed from the grandstand.

The likely Tito's Handmade Vodka Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) favorite worked solo, six days after she worked five furlongs in company in 1:00 flat at Santa Anita.

"I thought it was a perfect work going into a big race. She galloped out in a minute and change, and it was what we were looking for," Callaghan said of the Quality Road  filly, who took a step forward last time out with a stalk-and-pounce win in the Chandelier Stakes (G1), her first two-turn test. "Going into her last race, we had some works in company where she sat behind a horse, because that's essentially what we're trying to teach her. We know she's got the speed. She's shown that."

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The 35-year-old trainer has won 14 grade 1 races but is still seeking his first Breeders' Cup win, and he feels Bellafina is his best shot, although he felt similarly about Taris in the 2015 TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1), when she finished third after a troubled trip.

"We've won those grade 1s, and they're great, but a Derby and the Breeders' Cup is what we're aspiring to achieve," Callaghan said. "I thought Taris was unlucky and was probably the best horse on the day, and obviously last year we had Moonshine Memories, who was the favorite (in the Juvenile Fillies), but I think without question this filly has got it all and is definitely my best chance."

LNJ Foxwoods' Anonymity, who is pointing to the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) for trainer Richard Mandella, was the first Breeders' Cup worker to breeze during the session. The Tapit  filly broke ahead of stablemate Retro in the backstretch, settled and dropped back into a stalking position, then kicked well clear of her workmate in the stretch to finish off five furlongs in 1:00 1/5. Retro was timed in 1:01 2/5.

Mandella said the speedy filly, who has finished second in a pair of grade 3 sprints in Southern California, is still "a work in progress."

"We schooled her," Mandella said of the work in company. "She hasn't had that many races, so I think there's more there. We made her back up and then come through, and she's responded."

Roberta Williford, Ward Williford, and Chuck Winner's Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) entrant La Force rounded out the workout trio with a five-furlong breeze in 1:00 1/5 for trainer Patrick Gallagher, who called the drill "nice."

The German-bred Power filly has finished second in three straight grade 1 races, and her last two losing margins—in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes behind Unique Bella and in the Zenyatta Stakes behind Vale Dori—were less than a length.