Purse:	$2,000,000	Grade:	1
Distance:	1 1/4 Mile	Age:	3+

Chad Brown Holds Two Aces in 2020 Filly & Mare Turf

Chad Brown may have a formidable hand in the $2 million Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), at 1 3/16 miles, in e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Rushing Fall, who is undefeated in three starts this year, and Peter Brant's Sistercharlie (IRE), who won the race in 2018 en route to a divisional championship.

Rushing Fall, a 5-year-old daughter of More Than Ready who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) at Del Mar in 2017, has had a remarkable career, as she has won a Grade 1 race at 2, 3, 4 and 5-years-old, and is 11-for-14 lifetime.

She has also shown a love for the Keeneland turf course, where she is 5-for-6 lifetime, including a repeat in the Jenny Wiley (G1) in July.

Rushing Fall, who has not started since winning Saratoga's Diana (G1) Aug. 23, will race beyond 1 1/8 miles for the first time. Sistercharlie, a 6-year-old daughter of Myboycharlie (IRE), was Champion Turf Female in 2018 after winning the Filly & Mare Turf at Churchill Downs and was third in the race last year at Santa Anita.

Two other "Win and You're In" qualifiers also pre-entered in Allen Stable's homebred Civil Union, who has four straight wins for trainer Shug McGaughey, including the Flower Bowl (G1) at Belmont Park Oct. 10, and George Krikorian's homebred Mucho Unusual, who won the Rodeo Drive (G1) Sept. 26 at Santa Anita for trainer Tim Yakteen.

From Europe, Mrs. A.M. Swinburn's 4-year-old Audarya (FR) won the Darley Prix Jean Romanet (G1) at Deauville in August, and was recently third in the Prix de l'Opera Longines (G1), while the Jessica Harrington-trained Cayenne Pepper (IRE), won the Moyglare Jewels Blandford Stakes (G2) at The Curragh on Sept. 13.

RUSHING FALL

2020 has been a rollercoaster for many, but it has been all highs for Rushing Fall, who has all three of her starts, including graded stakes wins at Saratoga, Belmont Park and Keeneland.

In her latest triumph, the 5-year-old captured the Diana Stakes (G1) at Saratoga, a race that eluded her in 2019 when she finished second to fellow Chad Brown-trainee Sistercharlie (IRE). In this edition, Rushing Fall crushed this rival and snapped Mean Mary's three-race win streak, beating her by a neck after a duel in the stretch. The purse pushed the bay mare's earnings to over $2.5 million and brought her overall record to 11 wins and two seconds from 14 starts, with 10 wins coming in graded stakes.

The Diana marked Brown's fifth consecutive victory in the race and sixth overall. A turf specialist, he has guided 15 horses to victory in Breeders' Cup races, received the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer four times and has led North American trainers by earnings the past four years.

"She's a remarkable horse," trainer Chad Brown said. "This is a horse that has won

Grade 1s in four straight years. This is very rare company to do this. She's a horse of a lifetime for anybody-for an owner, for a trainer, for racing."

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, who has been on Rushing Fall for each of her 14 starts, agrees.

"She knows how to win. I'm so lucky to ride her because she's one of the best fillies I've ridden in my life."

Owner e Five Racing Thoroughbreds was established in 2015 by Bob and Kristine Edwards and the "Five" represents them and their three children. Success came quickly: they won the 2016

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) with New Money Honey. They duplicated success in this race in 2017 with Rushing Fall and also went to the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner's circle as partners with Stonestreet Stables in Good Magic. This horse went on to win the Toyota Bluegrass Stakes (G2), finish second in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and prevail in the Haskell Invitational

2024 BREEDERS' CUP RACE SCHEDULE

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What is the Breeders Cup' Filly & Mare Turf?

The Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (Grade 1) is a relative newcomer as it is the only existing series in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships races that was not a part of the original seven Breeders' Cup races group begun in 1984.

In July 1998, the Breeders' Cup board of directors voted on the decision to fill an obvious gap in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships lineup by creating this $1 million series for fillies and mares. The first Filly & Mare Turf was held in 1999 at Gulfstream Park.

Until that time, the female turf division had no definitive championship race, and distaffers were forced to race in open company. The audacious misses had to settle for competing against their male counterparts in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1). Back then, the ladies already more than held their own at the Breeders' Cup races, beginning with Royal Heroine (Ireland). She was the only filly in the field when she triumphed in the very first running of the Mile in 1984, and in the process, set a new course record at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California.

Following Royal Heroine's footsteps, Miesque snagged back-to-back wins at the Mile in 1987 and 1988, while Ridgewood Pearl (Great Britain) captured the 1995 running, moving the Mile championship for the misses up to four of the first 12 runnings. The females performed just as well in the Breeders' Cup Turf, notably, with Pebbles (Great Britain) who took the 1985 running and Miss Alleged who triumphed in 1991.

The Filly & Mare Turf was first run in 1999 at 1 3/8 miles, owing mainly to Gulfstream Park's grass course configuration, and was again contested like so in the following year. Come 2001, the distance was then shifted to 10 furlongs.

Ever since the initial running in 1999, the newer series has fulfilled its intended purpose. Phillips Racing Partnership's Soaring Softly snagged an Eclipse Award as champion turf female with a three-quarter-length victory on that first year.

In 2000 at Churchill Downs, Stronach Stable's Perfect Sting won by the same margin, 3/4 length, over Tout Charmant. Perfect Sting was subsequently voted champion turf female.

The Filly & Mare Turf (Grade 1) was first run in 1999 at 1 3/8 miles, but the distance was then shifted to 10 furlongs.

European interests in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf eventually broke through in 2001 at Belmont Park, when Juddmonte Farms' French-based Banks Hill (Great Britain) won by 5 1/2 lengths. That year, the Filly & Mare Turf was run at 1 1/4 miles for the first time, which is its prescribed distance when course configurations permit.

In 2003, the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf may have finally put the overseas runners at the fore of the Breeders' Cup map as European-trained horses swept the first three positions and European-bred horses bagged the top five. 3-1 favorite Islington stalked the pace in sixth early under Kieren Fallon, then at the top of the stretch came on strong and duelled with 47-1 shot L'Ancresse down the stretch to win by a neck in a time of 1:59. It was 2 ½ lengths back to 14-1 shot Yesterday while England-bred Heat Haze finished fourth.

2004 continued the European streak when race favorite Ouija Board of Great Britain won the championship at 0.90 odds with jockey Kieren Fallon. The runnerup was Film Maker at 16.50 odds with jockey John Velasquez while third place went to Wonder Again at 10.70 odds with jockey Edgar Prado.

Recent Breeders Cup' Filly & Mare Turf Winners