By Bill Finley
Though she won the May 11 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies S. at Gulfstream, which qualifies the winner for a trip to the Royal Ascot meeting, Bullet (War Front) will be staying in North America, reports D J Stable's General Manager Jon Green. Horses that win the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies or the Royal Palm Juvenile S. are offered an automatic berth into a 2-year-old stakes at Royal Ascot plus a $25,000 travel allowance.
Gabaldon (Gone Astray), the winner of the Royal Palm division for colts, will make his next start at Royal Ascot for trainer Jose D'Angelo.
“The official word is that we are not sending her to Ascot,” Green said. “She is already at Woodbine, where she will run in a three-race series, which finishes off with the GI Natalma S. It was a combination of a number of things. First and foremost was the schedule we want her to follow. The Canadian races enable us to put her on a schedule that we prefer. The races increase in distance every four weeks and we can keep her in one place, have her train in the cooler weather and then, if she has earned a spot, send her to the [GI] Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. That also allows us to train on the Tapeta course and the turf up there. I can see where running at Royal Ascot is a bucket-list event and, hopefully, someday we'll be in this position again and will be able to go. At this point in time, it just didn't make sense.”
Last year, the George Weaver-trained Crimson Advocate (Nyquist) began her career with a win in the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies and came right back to win the G2 Queen Mary S. at Ascot.
The schedule calls for Bullet to make her next start in the July 13 My Dear S. at 5 1/2 furlongs on the synthetic track, before switching back to the turf for the 6 1/2-furlong Catch a Glimpse S. Aug. 17 and then the one-mile GI Natalma S. on Sept. 14. All three races are at Woodbine. The Natalma is a “Win and You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.
“We like the fact that these races are all four weeks apart,” Green said. “If we're fortunate enough to do well in the Natalma, that gives us six weeks to get her from Canada to California.”
Bullet was a $425,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September sale. She won the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies S. by 2 1/4 lengths despite breaking slowly.
The flashy grey BULLET ($9.80) shot down the lane to draw off in the $120,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies Stakes @GulfstreamPark. The 2yo daughter of War Front (@claibornefarm) was ridden by @JaramilloJockey for trainer @markecasse. This was a Win and you're in to Royal @Ascot! pic.twitter.com/mli4ItKxIl
— FanDuel Racing (Formerly TVG) (@FanDuel_Racing) May 11, 2024
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