Jaywalk Dominates Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies

Cruising along on the front end early in the $2 million Tito's Handmade Vodka Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs, with her head bobbing, ears flopping, Jaywalk relaxed with poise beyond her years.

The 2-year-old daughter of Cross Traffic  showed all the signs of a gate-to-wire winner when she shot to the lead straight from the break but quickly relaxed on the front end, keeping plenty of energy in reserve. As jockey Joel Rosario judged the pace through fractions of :23.23 and :46.76, with Serengeti Empress and 9-5 favorite Bellafina in closest pursuit, trainer John Servis felt his quiet confidence grow.

"Her cruising speed is wicked, and she just runs them off their feet," said Servis, who collected his first Breeders' Cup victory with the striking gray/roan filly. "When she got to the lead going into the first turn, I saw her ears go up and saw she was relaxed. I thought we'd be pretty tough."

Although the 1 1/16-mile test was her first try around two turns, Jaywalk found another gear when she hit the top of the lane and easily put away from her followers en route to a 5 1/2-length victory in a final time of 1:43.62 on a fast track.

"She got out of there and she just wanted to go," Rosario said. "She just broke out of the gate and she didn't wait for anybody. I was just sitting very easy with her and let her do her job. She did it so easy. I just let her be there, and she feels like she could go for another run again."

Restless Rider, who made a powerful closing move, finished second, and Vibrance was a half-length back in third. Bellafina wound up 3 1/4 lengths back in fourth. 

Jaywalk has won her past four starts for Cash is King and D J Stable, with a victory in the Oct. 7 Frizette Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park preceding Friday's triumph. But Saturday's effort was her best yet and a high for D J Stable, which is made up of Leonard and Lois Green and their son, Jonathan.

"Even though we're from New Jersey, we've had two of our biggest wins here in Kentucky," Jonathan Green remarked. "We won the Ashland (Stakes, G1) back in '91 with a great filly named Do It With Style, and now we're back here with another great filly. We just feel very fortunate to have won the biggest races of our career here in Kentucky."

Of their partnership with Chuck Zacney, who owns Cash is King, Jonathan Green added: "Chuck's phenomenal. He's been the best partner we've ever had in the 30 years we've been in the business. I think that Dad even said the only other partner he's had for a longer time was my mom, so it really keeps him in very high regard."

Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds out of the Orientate mare Lady Pewitt, Jaywalk was a $190,000 purchase by Servis from Gainesway's consignment to the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Jaywalk defeated a grade 1 winner in Restless Rider, who punched her ticket to the Breeders' Cup with a win in the Oct. 5 Darley Alcibiades Stakes (G1) at Keeneland for Fern Circle Stables, Three Chimneys Farm, and trainer Ken McPeek.

"She had a good trip and looks like she came back healthy," McPeek said. "I'm proud of the way she ran. She's a good filly. We are going to have fun with her in the spring. We are probably going to bring her back at the end of the meet (in the Nov. 24 Golden Rod Stakes, G2). We have nothing to lose now, and we can knock out another stakes win."

Where two-time grade 1 winner Bellafina was concerned, trainer Simon Callaghan had no immediate reason for her flat performance.

"She broke a little flat-footed, and the rider had to use her a little bit early," he said. "After that, she had a pretty good trip, but it just did not seem to happen today. It is hard to know (about the surface). It is the first time she has run over this sort of track. I am just waiting to hear what (jockey Flavien Prat) has to say."

Prat remarked: "I had a good trip, but she never did feel quite right. She wasn't running smooth. I don't know if she didn't like the track or if it was an off day."

Servis, who is the only trainer to have won both the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Kentucky Oaks (G1) with a single starter in each race—the Run for the Roses with Smarty Jones  in 2004 and the 2016 Longines Kentucky Oaks with Cathryn Sophia—picked up his first Breeders' Cup win with just his second starter. His first was Jostle, who ran ninth in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). On Friday, Jaywalk more than made up for that loss.

"She's just been doing so good, and she's just had running on her mind," Servis said. "Two jumps out of the gate, I knew. She brought her game face."

Video: Tito's Handmade Vodka Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1)