Aunt Pearl takes out Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf

Former Patinack Farm shuttler Lope De Vega (Shamardal) chalked up his 12th top-flight winner on Friday as his daughter Aunt Pearl (2 ex Matauri Pearl by Hurricane Run) kept her unblemished record intact in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (Gr 1, 1m) at Keeneland. 

Last seen landing the Jessamine Stakes (Gr 2, 8.5f) on October 7, the Brad Cox-trained filly led from pillar to post and barely had to be coaxed out of a canter, hitting the line two and a half lengths ahead of Mother Earth (Zoffany), while Miss Amulet - who is by Cornerstone Stud shuttler Sir Prancealot (Tamayuz) - was a further neck away in third. 

"That was a devastating performance. She is an amazing filly. Very proud of her," Cox said. "Speed is her weapon and she knows how to use it. I was pretty confident (she would win) when I saw the :47, and (Geroux) obviously knows her well." 

"I know she is extremely fast. I just tried to get away good. She was off to a flying start," Geroux said. "She went pretty quick early on, and after that I tried to get her to relax. On the backside she came back to me. When I asked her, she had plenty left. She's extremely talented. I think the sky is the limit for her. Over the winter, hopefully she'll grow a little bit and next year we can do it again."

The Irish-bred mare was purchased by Euro Venture and Liz Crow for 280,000gns during Book 1 of the the 2019 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and she is out of Listed-placed Hurricane Run (Montjeu) mare Matauri Pearl, who is herself a sister to dual Group / Grade 3 scorer Wekeela. 

Further afield this is the same family as Group 1 winner Molly Malone (Lomitas) - the dam of Group 2 scorer Morgan Le Faye (Shamardal). The filly’s fourth dam is Listed scorer Mosella (Surumu), who in turn produced Group 1 winner and successful sire Monsun (Königsstuhl), who has sired three Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winners; Fiorente, Protectionist and Almandin. This is also the same family as dual Group 1 winner Brametot (Rajsaman). 

Lope De Vega’s Group 1 winners include Santa Ana Lane and Gytrash whilst his dual Group 1 winning son Belardo is currently standing at Haunui Farm in New Zealand.