Owner: Starlight Stables, Paul & Mary Saylor of Atlanta, Ga.
Breeder: Aaron & Marie Jones
Trainer: Todd Pletcher (16-2-1-1 Breeders’ Cup, 1-1-0-0 BC Distaff)
Regular Jockey: John Velazquez (47-6-4-4 Breeders’ Cup, 3-1-0-0 BC Distaff)

• She’s currently making a case for consecutive Eclipse Awards behind victories in Belmont’s Ogden Phipps and Saratoga’s Go For Wand this summer, both Grade 1 races.
• Captured the 2004 Eclipse Award as Champion Three-Year-Old Filly with a season that saw her earn more than $2.2 on the year. She’s approaching $3.5 million overall.
• Remarkable Grade 1 winner at ages two (Spinaway), three (Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club Oaks, Breeders’ Cup Distaff) and four (Phipps, Go For Wand).
• Incredibly has raced exclusively in graded stakes her entire career except for a debut maiden victory at Belmont in June of 2003.
• Runner-up in the 2003 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile fillies to Halfbridled. She become the first filly ever to finish second in the Juvenile Fillies and return to win the Distaff the next year.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Saint Ballado, won 4 of 9 starts in an injury-shortened career, including the G2 Arlington Classic.
• As a stallion, Saint Ballado best known for producing 1997 Florida Derby/Wood Memorial winner Captain Bodgit, runner-up as the favorite in that year’s Kentucky Derby.
• Dam, Goulash, was a minor stakes winner and G3 stakes-placed, winning 6 of 12 starts for $162,975.
• Dam, Goulash, was bred to Saint Ballado her first three seasons, producing Ashado, G2-placed Saint Stephen and listed stakes-placed Ballado’s Halo.

Best Case For:

• The defending champion knows the ropes and loves Belmont Park, where she’s stabled a good portion of the year and she’s won 3 of 4 starts heading into her final Distaff prep of 2005. The nine-furlong distance is probably her best and the one-turn configuration of the Belmont trip suits her fabulously with tactical speed.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Ashado was 14-for-14 in the money lifetime coming into 2005, a true champion of consistency. However, she failed to light the board in the Apple Blossom and Personal Ensign, races where she was the stout, 1-to-2 favorite in both. Many trainers say fillies and mares can be temperamental and lose interest as their career extends (an about-face of their quick maturity and zest for racing early in their careers). Will Ashado lay it all on the line every start now?

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Ashado is the only filly in history to win the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff in the same season; prior to her 2004 sweep, nine other Oaks winners all failed on “Racing’s Richest Day.”

Owner: Godolphin Racing of Dubai, UAE.
Breeder: Wind Hill Farm
Trainer: Saeed bin Suroor (22-2-1-2 BC Career, 1-0-0-1 BC Distaff)
Regular Jockey: Jerry Bailey (95-14-11-12 Breeders’ Cup, 14-0-2-1 BC Distaff)

• Three-time Grade 1 winner of the Mother Goose, Gazelle, and most recently the Ruffian in mid-September. An earner of more than $1.3 million.
• She was retired at the end of 2004 by owners Spendthrift Farm and entered in the Keeneland November Bloodstock Sale. Purchased for $3.6 million by Godolphin, “Big Blue” sent her to Dubai for the winter before returning to New York this spring with designs on a run at the Distaff.
• Third-place finisher in the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, rallying from last of 11 to be beaten less than two lengths, when under the tutelage of trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
• Won 3 of 5 starts as a juvenile in 2003, including the listed Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs.

In the Genes:

• Half-sister to G1-winning millionaire Starrer, a six-time graded stakes winner who finished fourth in the 2002 Breeders’ Cup Distaff and fifth in the 2001 Distaff.
• Sire, Wild Rush, earned $1.3 million with victories such as the G1 Met Mile and G1 Carter Handicap on his resume. He dead-heated with Silver Charm in the G2 Kentucky Cup Classic and was beaten favorite in the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
• From the second crop of Wild Rush offspring to race.
• Dam, To The Hunt, won 5 of 19 starts and was runner-up in the G3 Next Move Handicap and third in the G3 Rare Treat. To The Hunt is half-sister to G2 Adirondack and G2 Prioress winner American Royale.

Best Case For:

• Stellar Jayne is an absolute freak at Belmont Park, winning four of five starts over “Big Sandy” in her career (the other was a runner-up in the Coaching Club Oaks). All three of her career Grade 1 wins have come over this track, including the 2004 Gazelle at this identical, one-turn, nine-furlong trip.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Stellar Jayne has made only two starts since last year’s Distaff and neither was at the nine-furlong distance. She’ll have to build enough stamina in the mornings, not afternoons, to compete with the world’s toughest fillies and mares. She’s only 2-for-6 in races longer than 1-1/16 miles lifetime (6-for-14 shorter), so it’s not like routing is inherently present and just a matter of recapturing former endurance.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Trainer Saeed bin Suroor’s runners are 0-for-7 all-time in Breeders’ Cup races held on the dirt, but did finish second and third in the Classic (Sakhee, Swain) and third in the Distaff (Imperial Gesture).

Owner: Stewart Madison of Jackson, MS.
Breeder: Stewart Madison
Trainer: Andy Leggio (0-0-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Distaff)
Regular Jockey: Victor Espinoza (19-1-2-0 Breeders' Cup, 2-1-1-0 BC Distaff)

Career Highlights:

• First or second in all 12 career starts, including an amazing 10 wins.
• Louisiana-bred filly rose from regional dominance to national power with a convincing victory in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga in August.
• Gained even more respect perhaps in defeat when stretching out to 1-1/8 miles and finishing a close second to defending Distaff champion Ashado in the Oct. 1 Grade 1 Beldame.
• Opened her career with seven straight wins in Louisiana before finishing second to now-retired sprinter Madcap Escapade in July's Grade 2 Princess Rooney Stakes in Florida.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Anet, was a top middle-distance runner, winning 8 of 19 starts for $1.1 million. He won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby and listed Lone Star Derby in 1997 showing versatility on turf and dirt.
• Dam, Love and Happiness (by Septieme Ciel), won three races on the track and also has produced listed stakes winner Clever Seven.

Best Case For:

• She was running best of all late in the Beldame and seems to be the most exciting rising star in the division. She has great natural speed, but was able to rate against Ashado and only needs to make up a half-length in her second try at nine furlongs. Certainly she'd be a sentimental choice, spending the summer and fall in New York after her home state of Louisiana was battered by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Very few to find, as her 10-for-12 record would indicate. Speed figure aficionados perhaps won't be overly impressed by a career-best Beyer of 104 and only two triple-digit figures in her career. The average winning Beyer all-time in the Distaff is 109.2.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Only two Louisiana-breds in history have raced in the Breeders' Cup, 1986 Juvenile Fillies 12^th-place finisher Taxpayer's Folly and 1001 Distaff eighth-place finisher Fit to Scout.

Owner: Irving & Marjorie Cowan of Hollywood, Fla.
Breeder: Irving & Marjorie Cowan
Trainer: H. Allen Jerkens (8-0-0-0 Breeders’ Cup, 3-0-0-0 BC Distaff)
Regular Jockey: tbd  

• Won the Grade 2 Shuvee this spring over the Belmont main track.
• Millionaire filly has raced exclusively in graded stakes company since winning her career debut in August of 2003 at Saratoga.
• Grade 1 winner of the Test (seven furlongs) and Alabama (mile-and-one-quarter) last summer in successive races, one of only 11 fillies in history to turn that trick.
• Four-year-old was a Grade 1 winner at ages two (Frizette) and three (Test, Alabama).
• Makes her third career Breeders’ Cup appearance (10^th in the 2003 Juvenile Fillies and 9^th in the 2004 Distaff.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Coronado’s Quest, won the 1997 G1 Travers Stakes, G1 Haskell and G2 Wood Memorial. He finished fifth in the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
• Dam, Love That Jazz, finished second in the 1996 G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and eventually went on to win the G3 Vernon O. Underwood Handicap sprinting. She earned more than $480,000 in winning 6 of 21 starts.
• 1^st foal out of dam, Love That Jazz, who is a half-sister to graded stakes winners Sea of Secrets, Dancing Jon and Fight for Love.

Best Case For:

• New York, New York. Society Selection has lost all five career starts outside the Empire State and definitely will appreciate the fact that the Distaff is a “home game” this year. Her predecessor, champion Sky Beauty, was a similar beast in the Jerkens barn, running poorly in the ’93 and ’94 Distaff renewals when forced to travel to Santa Anita and Churchill Downs.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Society Selection really never has found a comfort zone in her career. Seven different jockeys have been aboard and she’s bounced around between sprints and routes. She’s a filly who appears to have no margin for error; in that, she must fire her absolute best shot to take down the big gals of the division – which she is capable.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Society Selection and her rival Ashado have met seven times in their careers, dating back to the 2003 Frizette, won by Society Selection. Ashado has out-finished her in five of the six match-ups since.

Owner: Live Oak Plantation (Charlotte Webber) of Ocala, FL.
Breeder: Whitewood Stable
Trainer: Nick Zito (23-1-4-3 BC Career, 1-0-0-0 BC Distaff)
Regular Jockey: Gary Stevens (93-8-15-10 Breeders’ Cup, 12-2-2-2 BC Distaff)

• Three-year-old registered her first career Grade 1 win Sept. 10 in the Gazelle at Belmont over nine furlongs.
• Earlier this spring, she tallied the Grade 2 Beaumont sprinting seven furlongs at Keeneland.
• Consistent, hard-knocking veteran of her generation’s best races, she was runner-up in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks and Grade 2 Bonnie Miss, while finishing third in the Grade 1 Acorn and Grade 1 Test.
• Bypassed last year’s Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies despite missing by only a head in the Grade 2 Alcibiades Stakes, one of the fall’s most important Juvenile Fillies’ preps.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Golden Missile, earned more than $2 million in his career, finishing third in the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Classic and winning such races as the Grade 1 Pimlico Special.
• From the first crop of sire Golden Missile, which also includes 2005 Triple Crown veteran Going Wild.
• Dam, Incinerate, is a daughter of champion sprinter Groovy and herself a Grade 2 winner who has produced listed stakes winner High Blitz as well as In The Gold.

Best Case For:

• Like many of the Distaff leading ladies, she loves Belmont Park, breaking her maiden here last summer and running bang-up races in the Acorn and Gazelle. In The Gold typically overcomes most anything thrown at her, including poor starts in the Acorn at Test. She’s had a strong, uninterrupted campaign and a smart freshening after the Gazelle looks like a good recipe. 

Biggest Knock Against:

• It appears as though she’ll be heading into the Distaff without having faced older horses in a previous start. How she’ll stack up against the entire deck of Distaff aces will be an unknown. The cast she beat in the Gazelle totaled only four rivals, and her chief challenger that day was top sprint filly Leavemealone, who was a major question mark at the nine-furlong distance 

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Only two fillies have won the Distaff in their first attempt against elders, champions Dance Smartly and Ashado.

Owner: Kinsman Stable (George Steinbrenner) of Ocala, FL
Breeder: Kinsman Farm
Trainer: Bill Mott (41-5-6-4 BC Career, 5-2-0-1 BC Distaff)
Regular Jockey: Jerry Bailey (95-14-11-12 Breeders’ Cup, 14-0-2-1 BC Distaff)

• Made her stakes debut a smashing success Aug. 20 at Saratoga, crushing her rivals in the Grade1 Alabama by more than six lengths over 10 furlongs.
• Made her two-turn debut July 28 with a second-level allowance win at Saratoga at nine furlongs, following her entry level allowance win at Belmont in late June.
• Late-blooming sophomore did not debut until May 12 of this year, but signaled her presence with a rallying victory at Belmont Park at 17-to-1 odds.

In the Genes:

• Sire, A.P. Indy, was 1992 Horse of the Year following victories in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Belmont Stakes.
• As a stallion, A.P. Indy has been one of America’s leading producers, represented by offspring like 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, millionaires Aptitude and Golden Missile, and current handicap division stars Suave, Shaniko, Congrats and Alumni Hall.
• Dam, Brandy Dancer, is half-sister to 1994 Horse of the Year Holy Bull.
• Dam, Brandy Dancer, won three races at age three and has produced minor listed Florida stakes winner Patriotic Flame 

Best Case For:

• She rallied from next-to-last to win a paceless Alabama in late August, showing that she has stamina to tap and doesn’t need the speed horses to fall apart in front of her to be a force. She’s done nothing wrong in her career and has shown an affinity for Belmont Park as well. A daughter of A.P. Indy out of a half-sister to Holy Bull, she should only get better with time.

Biggest Knock Against:

• What will she do if she has to throw the hammer down against top-notch competition? Her victories have been, by and large, easy performances. Even though she dusted an excellent cast in the Alabama, it was against straight three-year-olds and no one challenged her in the final eighth of a mile of that marathon. To her credit, no one has been able to test her mettle. But that can also be a detriment if the waters deepen in the Distaff.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Seven of the last eight editions of the Distaff have had at least one three-year-old filly in the exacta. Overall, 15 of 21 Distaff renewals have seen at least one three-year-old filly in the exacta.

Owner: B.A. Man Stable (Jim Osborn) of Little Rock, AR
Breeder: Richard Maynard
Trainer: Larry Jones (1-0-0-0 BC Career, 0-0-0-0 BC Distaff)
Regular Jockey: tbd

• Underrated, classy filly has notched graded stakes wins at one mile and one-mile-and-one-quarter in her career, banking more than $1.1 million along the way.
• Based in western Kentucky, she’s enjoyed racing on the eastern seaboard, winning 4-of-5 starts on Long Island and in Delaware. At the top of the list is the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont in 2004 and the $1 million Grade 2 Delaware Handicap this July.
• Solid spring run in Arkansas and Kentucky this year, picking up checks in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom and Grade 2 Louisville Breeders’ Cup among other races.
• Runner-up last year in two of the top races for three-year-old fillies, the Grade1 Kentucky Oaks and Grade 2 Fantasy.
• Began her career in Maryland with trainer Tony Dutrow before being privately sold in early 2004.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Tabasco Cat, was 1994 Champion Three-Year-Old behind victories in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. His season culminated with a runner-up effort in the Breeders’ Cup Classic to Concern.
• As a stallion, Tabasco Cat best known for producing Grade 1 winners Island Sand, Habibti and Snow Ridge.
• Dam, Sue’s Last Dance, is an unraced daughter of Forty Niner.
• Dam, Sue’s Last Dance, is half-sister to 2004 Queen’s Plate winner Niigon.

Best Case For:

• She ran a very competitive third in the Mother Goose last year behind eventual Breeders’ Cup Distaff heavyweights Ashado and Stellar Jayne. That race was over the same and track and distance as this year’s Distaff, and she may have been too close to the early pace that day to be most effective. Her absolute best puts her in the mix with these.

Biggest Knock Against:

• After leaving the three-year-old ranks last fall, Island Sand won just one of her first eight starts in the older filly and mare ranks (2005 Delaware Handicap). Nearly every one of her best races has been set up by torrid fractions early, aiding her closing kick. She’ll be at the mercy of the other competitors in the Distaff, hoping for a swift pace.

Bet You Didn’t Know:

• Island Sand won the second-richest race in America for the Distaff divisional set, the $1 million Delaware Handicap on July 17. They’ll run for $2 million in the Breeders’ Cup.

Owner: Everest Stables (Jeffrey Nielsen) of North Oaks, Minnesota
Breeder: Everest Stables
Trainer: Marcelo Polanco (3-0-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 1-0-0-0 BC Distaff)
Regular Jockey: Patrick Valenzuela (46-7-0-3 Breeders' Cup, 5-1-0-1 BC Distaff)

Career Highlights:

• Five-year-old mare is just shy of $2 million in career earnings as she enters the Distaff for the second time. She finished fifth in the 2004 Distaff after a wide trip.
• Three-time Grade 1 winner of the Alabama, La Brea and Santa Monica.
• Ambitious resume throughout her 25-race career, including two attempts against the boys in the prestigious Santa Anita Handicap (finishing second in 2004), a trip to Japan for the world renowned Yasuda Kinen and an attempt at the 2005 Pacific Classic against the boys.
• Searching for her first win in 2005 after eight losses, but just missed by a head in the Grade 1 Vanity on dirt and the Grade 1 Mabee Handicap on turf.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Petionville, was a top three-year-old in 1995 for Island Fashion's owner Jeffrey Nielsen. He won the G2 Ohio Derby, G3 Louisiana Derby and G3 La Jolla, while finishing third in the G2 Swaps to Kentucky Derby winner Thunder Gulch and Da Hoss.
• As a stallion, Petionville best known for producing graded stakes winners Publication and Island Fashion, as well as multiple G1 stakes-placed sprinter Voodoo.
• Dam, Danzigs Fashion, won 9 of 34 starts for $197,658, including the Likely Exchange Stakes. She has produced 7 foals of racing age with only Island Fashion earning a stakes win.

Best Case For:

• Remarkably versatile filly can adapt to nearly anything. Island Fashion is a Grade 1 winner from seven furlongs to a mile-and-one-quarter, and has placed on grass in Grade 1 races like the Matriarch and Mabee. She will run all day, and can pick up the pieces with a grind-it-out style.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Island Fashion has not won a race in nearly 13 months dating back to the 2004 Lady's Secret Handicap. And while she's won in New York, taking the 2003 Alabama at Saratoga, she's struggled specifically at Belmont Park – finishing off the board in the Beldame and Gazelle two years ago.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Island Fashion's runner-up effort in the 2004 Santa Anita Handicap was the best by a filly in the 68-year history of the ‘Big Cap.

Owner: Pamela Ziebarth of San Juan Capistrano, Cal.
Breeder: Sequel 98
Trainer: John Sadler (5-0-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Distaff)
Regular Jockey: Garrett Gomez (8-0-1-1 Breeders' Cup, 0-0-0-0 BC Distaff)

Career Highlights:

• Gutsy front-running victory in the Oct. Grade 1 Lady's Secret Handicap put this up-and-comer on the Distaff trail, losing the lead in the stretch but battling back for her first graded win.
• Has won 3 straight races after landing restricted stakes events back-to-back at Del Mar, the Osunitas on turf and the Adoration on the main track.
• Won 2 of 5 starts last as a three-year-old in her debut season.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Boston Harbor, won the 1996 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in a record-setting two-year-old season. He earned a record $1.9 million on the year with wins in the Breeders' Futurity, Kentucky Cup Juvenile and Bashford Manor among his other scores.
• Sire, Boston Harbor, now stands in Japan.
• Dam, Lady Laika, is a Gone West mare who lost all 3 career starts. She has produced five foals with two stakes winners.
• She could become a third-generation Breeders' Cup winner. Sire, Boston Harbor, and grandsire, Capote, both won the Juvenile.

Best Case For:

• She enters the Distaff one of the hottest fillies or mares in the nation, winning three straight and four of her last five. Her campaign has been strong with four wins in eighth starts, but the gradual rise in class and mixture of distances and surfaces should have her still heading to her peak.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Healthy Addiction's career-defining win in the Lady's Secret came against a field that historically falls shorts of past Lady's Secret renewals in terms of strength. She's a rising four-year-old who may have capitalized on a veteran group of mares that day who are past their best form. She was well-beaten by Splendid Blendid this summer in the Vanity, a top-level filly who may be the best measuring stick she's ever faced.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Owner Pamela Ziebarth is the daughter of the late Cecelia Straub-Rubens, whose Tiznow won the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2000 and 2001.

Owner: Ogden Mills Phipps of Old Westbury, NY
Breeder: Ogden Mills Phipps
Trainer: Shug McGaughey (47-8-9-1 Breeders' Cup, 12-2-5-0 BC Distaff)
Regular Jockey: Cornelio Velasquez (8-1-0-0 Breeders' Cup, 1-0-0-0 BC Distaff)

Career Highlights:

• Late bloomer did not contest her first stakes race until this April, mid-way through her four-year-old season. Debuted in the big-time with style, though, winning the Grade 3 Bed O Roses Breeders' Cup by more than five lengths.
• Enters the Distaff with back-to-back Grade 1 runner-up efforts, first in the seven-furlong Ballerina behind Happy Ticket and most recently in the nine-furlong Spinster to Pampered Princess.
• Although she hasn't raced at Belmont in 2005, won two of three starts over this oval in 2004.

In the Genes:

• Sire, Seeking the Gold, won 8 of 15 starts for $2.3 million including the 1988 Grade 1 Super Derby. He was runner-up in that fall's Breeders' Cup Classic to Alysheba.
• Sire, Seeking the Gold, has produced two Breeders' Cup winners – 1999 Juvenile Fillies champion Cash Run and 1994 Juvenile Fillies winner Flanders. He also was the sire of two-time Distaff runner-up Heavenly Prize. His best offspring was Dubai Millennium, $4.4 million earner and winner of the Dubai World Cup.
• Dam, Our Country Place (by Pleasant Colony), is a half-sister to champion Sky Beauty and a rare Phipps broodmare who was purchased and not a home-bred.
• Full sister Country Hideaway also won the Bed O Roses Breeders' Cup.

Best Case For:

• In a Distaff loaded with front-end speed horses, Pleasant Home will be one of the few doing her best running in the final eighth of a mile. Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has been very successful in this race and, as per his style, has taken his time to let this filly develop before tackling the division's best.

Biggest Knock Against:

• Asahdo and Happy Ticket, two of the heavyweights for the Distaff, each handled Pleasant Home with relative ease this season. Ashado beaten her by almost seven lengths in the Pimlico Distaff, while Happy Ticket beat her by more than five in the Ballerina. Granted, those were on sloppy or muddy tracks and at distances shorter than Pleasant Home most appreciates. Speed figure proponents may argue that her numbers are too slow.

Bet You Didn't Know:

• Trainer Shug McGaughey's runners have finished in the Distaff superfecta an amazing 11 of 12 times.