With a grade III victory already under her belt, undefeated She Be Wild figures to be the one to beat in the Oct. 9 Darley Alcibiades Stakes (gr. I), one of two feature races kicking off Keeneland’s FallStars Weekend. The $500,000 contest is a “Win and You’re In” race for the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I).
She Be Wild will face 11 rivals in the 1 1/16-mile Alcibiades for 2-year-old fillies on the Polytrack. Campaigned as a homebred by Nancy Mazzoni, the Wayne Catalano-trained filly broke her maiden by 7 1/4 lengths at Arlington Park May 30, and then easily won the Top Flight Stakes by 5 1/4 lengths at the Chicago track Aug. 8. She will enter the Alcibiades off a 5 3/4-length score in the Sept. 5 Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes (gr. III).
“She's a small filly, but she's feisty,” said Catalano of the daughter of Offlee Wild—Trappings, by Seeking the Gold, who breezed five furlongs in 1:00.40 at Keeneland Oct. 4. “She looks like she'll do anything. She went to the lead (in her debut), and she laid right off it and she rated (in her two most recent races). She looks like she's a handy little horse.”
Catalano is accustomed to having an undefeated 2-year-old filly. In 2006, he saddled Dreaming of Anna to victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) to conclude her juvenile season and earn an Eclipse Award as division champion.
When asked if he thought She Be Wild might be able to repeat Dreaming of Anna's success, he said, “I would love to. Dreaming of Anna was a great horse. We had a lot of fun. She brought a lot of joy to the stable. We're looking forward to doing it again.”
She Be Wild, who will be ridden for the first time by jockey Garrett Gomez, will break from post three.
While Westrock Stables’ filly Decelerator has finished off the board in her last two starts, she did show some promise in capturing the Debutante Stakes (gr. III) at Churchill Downs earlier this summer, and the Alcibiades could mark a return to her winning ways. Decelerator is trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who has also entered her stablemate, Debutante fourth-place finisher Tidal Pool, in the Alcibiades. While jockey James Theroit will be in the irons on Decelerator, Chris Emigh gets the mount on Tidal Pool.
Another viable contender is the grade I stakes-placed filly Beautician, who ran second to Hot Dixie Chick in the Sept. 6 Spinaway Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga. Trained by Kenny McPeek for Peter Callahan, the daughter of Dehere has been on the board in all three of her starts, including a second in the July 29 Schuylerville Stakes (gr. III), also at Saratoga. Kent Desormeaux will ride, and the pair will break from post four.
Rounding out the field are graded stakes-placed runners Sassy Image and Screen Legend; Monmouth Park stakes winner Kid Kate; stakes-placed runner Negligee; and winners Blackwell, Zilva, Amen Hallelujah; and Quick Breeze.
$600,000 Darley Alcibiades Stakes (gr. I, Race 9, 6:15 p.m.), 2YO fillies, 1 1/16 Miles)
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight
1. Blackwell (KY), C H Borel, 118
2. Tidal Pool (KY), C A Emigh, 118
3. She Be Wild (KY), G K Gomez, 118
4. Beautician (KY), K J Desormeaux, 118
5. Negligee (KY), R Maragh, 118
6. Screen Legend (KY), J L Castanon, 118
7. Zilva (PA), J Rose, 118
8. Decelerator (KY), J Theriot, 118
9. Amen Hallelujah (FL), M Mena, 118
10. Kid Kate (KY), J R Leparoux, 118
11. Quick Breeze (KY), C J Lanerie, 118
12. Sassy Image (KY), R Albarado, 118