The victory avenged a second-place finish by Perfect Sting to Tout Charmant in the Win Star Galaxy Stakes at Keeneland. Perfect Sting has 13 wins in 19 career starts, with 12 wins in 17 grass starts for the 4-year-old filly.Dr. Wayne McIlwraigh said Spanish Fern was taken to an equine clinic in Lexington, Ky., for treatment of soft tissue swelling in the upper left femur. McIlwraigh said the injury could involve bone, but that a firm diagnosis could not be made until after a radiograph was completed. Subsequent examination determined Spanish Fern suffered a fractured pelvis and internal hemmorhaging from the laceration of a large blood vessel. She died around 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
In the first non-favorite to win on the Breeders' Cup Super Pick 6, 5-1 Perfect Sting rallied leaving the turn into the stretch to win the Filly & Mare Turf over Tout Charmant. The 4-year-old Red Ransom filly trained by Joseph Orseno for Stronach Stables, ran the 1 3/8 miles in 2:13.07.Spanish Fern was pulled up by jockey Victor Espinoza shortly after the break as the Japanese-based filly Maltese Superb took the early lead, with Collect the Cash and Tranquility Lake settling in comfortably behind her as the field raced into the second turn for the first time. The leaders remained unchanged until Collect the Cash took over going around the second turn of the three-turn race, with Maltese Superb and Tout Charmant sill tracking her.As the field left the backstretch into the second turn for the final time, Tranquility Lake assumed a brief lead before being caught by Snow Polina and Perfect Sting. Ridden by Jerry Bailey, Perfect Sting won the stretch duel with Tout Charmant, who finished second. The German filly Catella was third in the 14-horse field.