"Tejida and Mushka prep for Breeders Cup in Juddmonte Spinster Stakes on Sunday"

by "Reload" Joe Freda

The $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes headlines a pair of rich races from Keeneland on Sunday being televised by ESPN at 5pm ET. This race features older fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the synthetic surface and is a big prep for the Breeders Cup Ladies Classic coming next month. With no clear favorite and a big field of 11, two longshots Tejida (#2) and Mushka (#11) look to pay as overlays on the toteboard.

It has been a big weekend of action at Keeneland as many top trainers, jockeys, and horses have prepped for various divisions of the Breeders Cup. With the chance of dominant filly Zenyatta passing on the Breeders Cup Ladies Classic next month to possibly run against the boys for bigger money, it could leave a nice payday open for some contending ladies in today’s Juddmonte Spinster Stakes.

The morning line 3-1 favorite in today’s “Spinster” is Swift Temper (#8) who has finished in the money seven out of eight times this year with three victories. As appealing as it can look to take Swift Temper, I feel passing is in order here at such low odds since this contender has not raced on a synthetic surface for a long time. Yesterday we saw the same situation with Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in the Goodwood Stakes at Oak Tree – going off at low odds but not having run on the synthetic in a long time and finishing out of the money there. Despite obtaining an eye-catching speed figure in her last race, a muddy track at Belmont Park is a much different situation than the synthetic surface at Keeneland today and it’s best to look elsewhere on the board for some bigger prices.

The two choices I am putting money on here are Tejida (#2) and Mushka (#11) at 15-1 and 6-1 odds in the morning line, respectively. In what should be a wide open race, Tejida returns to Keeneland where her only start on the synthetic surface occurred this past April resulted in a third place finish. Following that, trainer Michael Matz took her back to the turf at Pimlico, Colonial Downs, and Saratoga facing some top competition all over. This included a fourth place finish in the $500,000 Diana Handicap at the Spa where a wide move needed to happen but the ending left her only a couple of lengths from the front. I feel there has been a good closing kick in each of Tejida’s recent races and a return to Keeneland’s surface might be the right place, time, surface, and opponents to finish in the money against. After a seventh place clunker in her last race, there will be high odds here and I am more than willing to take a shot at 15-1 or higher to find out.

Mushka will come out of the most outside post today, but having a combination behind her like trainer Bill Mott and jockey Kent Desormeaux more than makes up for that. Similar to Tejida, Mushka has one race under her belt at Keeneland from the spring and it was an allowance race victory with Desormeaux aboard. Following that, Mott took her back to turf like Tejida’s connections did also hoping to target the Diana for a big payday. However, a stumble at the start kept her at the back of the pack the whole way resulting in a disappointing seventh place finish. Mushka then bounced back last month with a win on the Spa turf getting Desormeaux back in the saddle, and with him making the visit to Keeneland today you have to figure on a good chance for some dollars.

Keeneland’s Co-Feature on ESPN: The Bourbon Stakes for Two Year Olds
Starting off ESPN’s broadcast today from Keeneland will be the $150,000 Bourbon Stakes for some up and coming two year olds and like the Spinster, it features a big wide open field.

The Bourbon is 1 1/16 miles on the turf and morning line favorite Interactif (#4) will be the one to beat at 5-2 odds or less. Kent Desormeaux is staying aboard this colt after a big turf win at Saratoga going the same distance there last month. Despite being an impressive choice, I feel the value has dropped too much in being able to back Interactif here at the betting window. Going from nearly 16-1 odds at the Spa to being a morning line favorite today against a larger field at the same stakes level makes me have to pass here thinking anything could happen – especially Interactif having to carry six pounds more than everyone else in the field.

Two contenders paying higher odds have caught my eye in this race and seem more worth some betting dollars than Interactif. In a turf race with a large field, I tend to prefer spreading out smaller amounts of risk on higher paying prices and in the long run it has been the way to go for me over the years. My choices today are Family Foundation (#9), and Billions Boy (#3) at 6-1 and 8-1, respectively.

Family Foundation ships into Keeneland today from Arlington Park off two impressive wins in a row there. Although it will be a step up in class today, jockey Junior Alvarado who was aboard for the victories will be mounted up again today looking for a share of a bigger purse. This contender also has consistently picked up more speed in each race and will be one to watch down the stretch.

Billions Boy broke his maiden at Saratoga last month as the betting favorite that day at this same 1 1/16 mile distance on turf and will get to carry a couple of pounds less today. This colt started out as a sprinter with two second place finishes in a row, and showed that transitioning to a bigger distance was able to happen with no problem. Some career-high speed was shown when breaking the maiden that even tops what today’s favorite brought to the track last time out and 8-1 odds would be a nice overlay.

This week: The Meadowlands Cup on Friday night
Thoroughbred action at the Big M this week features the Meadowlands Cup on Friday with a late night post time of 10pm ET. Three year olds and up will battle under the lights going 1 1/8 miles for a share of $350,000 and it will be broadcast live on TVG that evening. I will be back that day with a preview of that night’s card as it could shape up to be a nice bankroll builder before the weekend.

Saturday turf action on ESPN2 from north of the border
This Saturday, ESPN2 will be broadcasting three big races from Woodbine headlined by the $2,000,000 Pattison Canadian International going 1 ½ miles. Leading up to that will be the E.P. Taylor Stakes for $1,000,000 at 1 ¼ miles and the Nearctic Stakes featuring a six furlong sprint for $500,000. As the racing calendar keeps heading to next month’s Breeders Cup there is still plenty of big money out there around the globe and I will be back next weekend covering this card. Until then, good luck with all your wagers.