Adam Houghton revisits the best performances produced by fillies/mares at the Breeders' Cup in the last 30 years.
Tarnawa will be one of the star names in action at Del Mar on Saturday when she attempts to defend her crown in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, a feat previously achieved by High Chaparral (2002 and 2003) and Conduit (2008 and 2009).
Dermot Weld’s mare ran out a comfortable winner when the Turf was staged at Keeneland 12 months ago, finding plenty in the final furlong to beat Magical by a length. That was a very smart performance but, in pure form terms, it wasn’t quite up there with the very best Tarnawa has produced during her illustrious career.
For context, Tarnawa earned a Timeform performance rating of 125 when filling the runner-up spot on her final two starts in Europe this year – first behind St Mark’s Basilica in the Irish Champion Stakes and then behind Torquator Tasso in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – compared to a figure of 123 when winning last year’s Turf.
To be capable of running to a Timeform rating of 125 underlines that Tarnawa is a high-class mare, one with the opportunity to add her name to a very select list of horses by notching up a second Breeders’ Cup success on Saturday.
There are several fillies/mares amongst that group already, including the likes of Beholder, Goldikova and Zenyatta, though it’s worth pointing out that none of that trio were responsible for the best performance by a filly or mare at the Breeders’ Cup in the last 30 years.
Struggling to think of who is? Well, wonder no more as our countdown reveals the nine fillies/mares to have made the biggest impression on Timeform when successful at the Breeders’ Cup during that period – all of them running to a performance rating of 126 or above.
8= Beautiful Pleasure – 1999 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (126)
Only eight runners went to post for the 1999 edition of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, staged at Gulfstream Park, but the field had already won 18 Grade 1 races between them, underlining that there was a lot of quality on offer.
Beautiful Pleasure arrived on the back of a dominant victory in the Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park, when making all to beat Silverbullet, a high-class performer in her own right, by nearly five lengths. That win earned Beautiful Pleasure a performance rating of 128 and, in the event, she didn’t need to match that effort to follow up in the Distaff.
Forced to go wide on the first turn, Beautiful Pleasure soon adopted her customary front-running tactics under regular rider Jorge Chavez. She had extended her lead to three lengths by the far turn and kept going well in the straight to hold on by half a length from Banshee Breeze.
8= Pleasant Home – 2005 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (126)
Pleasant Home was one of the outsiders in a 13-strong field for the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Distaff run at Belmont Park, returning an SP of around 30/1. She had finished placed in a pair of Grade 1 races earlier in the season, but the Distaff looked a step too far for a filly yet to win above Grade 3 level.
The Distaff was run at a strong gallop and Pleasant Home almost certainly benefited from being ridden well off the pace, but that alone couldn’t explain the significant improvement she seemed to show. Produced to lead inside the final two furlongs, she then powered clear to win by over nine lengths in breathtaking fashion.
Three previous Grade 1 winners completed the frame and the strength of the form suggests Pleasant Home was full value for a high-class performance. A shock winner but clearly a very talented one.
6= Banks Hill – 2001 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (128)
Trained by Andre Fabre, Banks Hill had enjoyed a productive campaign in Europe before running in the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Belmont Park. She had registered a first Group 1 success in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and continued to run consistently at the top level to ensure that she was amongst the market leaders when lining up at Belmont.
Ed Dunlop’s multiple Group/Grade 1 winner Lailani also featured in a strong European challenge but, as it turned out, the race only ever concerned one horse. Always travelling like the winner, Banks Hill breezed into the lead on the home turn before showing a sparkling turn of foot to leave her rivals trailing in her wake, ultimately winning by five and a half lengths with plenty in hand.
On a night when Tiznow won the Classic for the second year in succession and Fantastic Light beat Milan to win the Turf, Banks Hill was arguably the most impressive winner of them all, putting up a performance that will live long in the memory.
6= Gamine – 2020 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (128)
Gamine will be a warm order to come out on top in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, a race she won in dominant fashion when it was staged at Keeneland 12 months ago. If she produces as good a performance as she did on that occasion, then we could be in for something special.
Beaten just once in 10 career starts, when failing to stay the trip in last year’s Kentucky Oaks, Gamine produced arguably the best performance of her career at Keeneland. She chased Serengeti Empress through strong early fractions before readily clearing away in the straight, ultimately winning by over six lengths to cement her standing as the best three-year-old filly in the US.
Gamine has added four more wins to her tally this season, capped by an impressive weight-carrying performance in the Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga last time. Seemingly at least as good as ever, Gamine is unlikely to give up her Breeders’ Cup crown without a fight on Saturday, with a repeat of last year’s effort likely to suffice.
3= Zenyatta – 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic (129)
A decisive winner of the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic at Santa Anita – running to a Timeform performance rating of 128 – Zenyatta took her form up another notch when beating the boys in the following year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at the same track.
Once again, it was the manner in which Zenyatta won the Classic that impressed more than anything. Slowly away and last early on, she still had only one behind her as they began to round the home bend. Mike Smith then kept her to the inside early in the straight instead of coming wide as usual, but the response after the pair had weaved their way towards the outside was relentless, still sixth a furlong out but quickening up under pressure to catch Gio Ponti in the final 50 yards.
Zenyatta’s winning sequence stood at 14 after that victory and she also made history by becoming the first of her sex to win North America's richest race. She lost for the first and only time in 20 starts when making her final appearance in the 2010 Classic at Churchill Downs, looking unlucky not to retire with her unbeaten record intact as she came from well off the pace to nearly snatch victory.
3= Goldikova – 2010 Breeders’ Cup Mile (129)
A strong field went to post for the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs – the 11 runners had amassed 15 Group/Grade 1 wins between them that season – and Goldikova stamped her authority over the division in no uncertain terms as she completed a hat-trick of wins in the race, becoming the first three-time winner at the Breeders’ Cup in the process.
Much of the pre-race talk focused on Goldikova’s wide draw, but the sound pace helped on that score, for all that she had to race on the outer in mid-division. She quickened impressively when called upon in the straight by Olivier Peslier, reeling in the front runner and soon in command, essentially scoring with something in reserve as she passed the post nearly two lengths in front of Gio Ponti.
It was a stellar performance and one of the best in Goldikova’s distinguished career, certainly better than when successful in 2008 and 2009. She retired having won 14 Group/Grade 1 races, though a fourth victory in the Mile proved beyond her as she could manage only third behind Court Vision on her swansong back at Churchill Downs in 2011.
3= Beholder – 2016 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (129)
The 2016 renewal of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, staged at Santa Anita, was one of the most eagerly anticipated in many years, bringing together the unbeaten three-year-old Songbird and the high-class pair of Beholder and Stellar Wind.
The race itself didn’t disappoint, for all that Stellar Wind failed to get involved falling a tardy start. You only need two horses to provide a thrilling spectacle and Beholder and Songbird served up a stretch-long battle that will certainly live long in the memory, neither giving an inch. Beholder found plenty for pressure and just did enough to get the verdict by a nose from Songbird, doing so despite covering more ground than that rival out wide.
That was the eleventh Grade 1 success of Beholder’s illustrious career and her third at the Breeders’ Cup – emulating Goldikova – having also won the 2012 Juvenile Fillies and the 2013 Distaff, both at Santa Anita. She was retired to the paddocks after her second Distaff triumph, a performance which ranked up there with anything else she achieved during her career according to Timeform ratings.
2. Inside Information – 1995 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (130)
The oldest entry in our countdown and a top-class performance from Inside Information, who capped a memorable campaign in 1995 with a demolition job in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Belmont Park.
Inside Information had already won six of her seven races that season, including a hat-trick of Grade 1 victories. The Distaff was expected to be her toughest test yet, however, as she finally clashed with her stablemate Heavenly Prize, who was trying to win the Distaff for the second year in a row, as well as the high-class three-year-old Serena’s Song, who had beaten Heavenly Prize into second when winning the Beldame Stakes at the same track during the summer.
Given the quality on show, few could have expected it to become quite the one-sided affair that it did. On a muddy track, Inside Information moved to the front around five furlongs out and already had most of her rivals off the bridle by the home turn. From there she proceeded to draw clear, putting up a display of rare dominance as she reached the line over 13 lengths in front of Heavenly Prize, with Serena’s Song only fifth.
1. Azeri – 2002 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (133)
Six individual Grade 1 winners went to post for the 2002 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Arlington Park and Azeri put up a magnificent performance to take her record to 10 wins from 11 starts, creating such an impression that she later became just the third filly to be crowned US Horse of the Year.
Azeri set a good pace in the Distaff and she already had the field quite well strung out down the far side. Imperial Gesture, a multiple Grade 1 winner for Saeed bin Suroor, managed to go with her for most of the way, but she had cried enough with over a furlong to run. By contrast, Azeri stuck to her task in relentless fashion, extending her advantage all the way to the line to win by nearly five lengths from the high-class Farda Amiga, who pipped a tired Imperial Gesture to the runner-up spot.
On a strict interpretation of the form, Azeri would have been a serious player in that year’s Classic – won by Volponi – if running there rather than in the Distaff. She did eventually line up in the Classic, finishing fifth behind Ghostzapper in the 2004 renewal at Lone Star Park, but her form by then wasn’t what it had been earlier in her career, failing to scale quite the same heights after suffering a tendon injury as a five-year-old.