G. Watts Humphrey Jr.'s homebred Romantic Vision will start in the Nov. 3 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Del Mar, trainer Rusty Arnold said Oct. 11.
Romantic Vision earned herself a fees-paid berth to the Distaff when she galloped to a two-length victory in the Oct. 8 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland—her first top-level score in 19 starts. The 5-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid is set to be retired at year's end and her connections decided there is no downside to having an ambitious career send off.
"She's good and she's going," Arnold said from his Keeneland barn. "We had a talk yesterday, weighed the positives and the negatives and (the Breeders' Cup) has a huge upside if she can run well. She's already a grade 1 winner, we get everything paid, and we're running for $2 million where we'd be paying entries and nomination fees to run for $200,000 (in the grade 2 Falls City Handicap Nov. 23 at Churchill Downs).
"As long as she's good, she's going."
Romantic Vision has come to hand this season, winning three of six starts, including her first graded score in the Sept. 16 Locust Grove Stakes (G3) at Churchill. With the likes of champion Stellar Wind and grade 1 winners Abel Tasman and Elate slated to be among the Distaff contenders, Romantic Vision will be up against the toughest competition of her life—all the more reason Arnold says it makes sense to take a swing.
"We'd love to be on the board, we know how tough it is," Arnold said. "Those fillies have got a little bit better past than ours, but our filly is maybe a now horse. She's doing well and we're going with not a lot of pressure. We're taking a shot."
Arnold added that Romantic Vision would ship to Del Mar either Oct. 27 or Oct. 30 depending on which plane she can get on. The bay mare has won six of 19 starts with earnings of $610,086.
