By Steve Sherack
ARCADIA, CA – For your information, George Krikorian's unbeaten homebred Just F Y I (Justify) is the best 2-year-old filly in the country.
Given a 7-1 chance while drawn widest of all in post 12 in Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, she secured a beautiful spot from her outside draw and immediately took the race to 4-5 favorite and unbeaten GI Del Mar Debutante S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) from the start. Always traveling like a winner beneath Junior Alvarado from an outside second, she stalked the daughter of Beholder through fractions of :22.47 and :46.60 and loomed boldly approaching the quarter pole.
Just F Y I kicked for home in complete control, enjoyed a 1 1/2-length advantage in the stretch, and, after getting a little leg weary late, stayed on to hold the two-for-two longshot Jody's Pride (American Pharoah) safe by a neck. It was another half-length back to GI Darley Alcibiades S. heroine and 5-2 second choice Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}) in third. Tamara tired in the stretch to finish seventh.
“She broke tremendously,” Hall of Famer Bill Mott said after saddling his 13th Breeders' Cup winner and first in the Juvenile Fillies. “I was a little worried she was going to get a little too rank, but once she got position, she looked like she was settled down. You had to worry about how fast they were going because the filly (Tamara) Mike (Smith) was on is pretty fast. We got lucky. We had a great trip and she came into the race in great order and she showed us what she could do.”
Alvarado rode the Mott-trained Cody's Wish (Curlin) to his first Breeders' Cup win in last year's Dirt Mile. “She was there every step of the way helping me out,” Alvarado said. “When I asked her, she was was all out there for me.”
Just up in time by a head on debut going six furlongs at Saratoga Aug. 26, Just F Y I turned in a powerful performance while capturing the GI Frizette S. going a one-turn mile over a sloppy track at Aqueduct Oct. 7. She was making her two-turn debut on the 'Future Stars Friday' program.
“She deserves some time off, a little time to grow and fill out,” Mott said. “Sometimes a short rest is not that good because it's harder to get them back, so you have to figure out what you want to do so you can get them back. You want to give them the rest, but get them back in time for some of the big races in the spring.”
A movie theater mogul, Krikorian is president and chief executive officer of Krikorian Premiere Theatres. Raised near Rockingham Park, his late father, George Krikorian, Sr., was a trainer in the 1960s, '70s, and early '80s. Krikorian will also be represented by War Like Goddess (English Channel) in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Turf.
“The story is I bred her, and look what happened today,” Krikorian said. “It's just been incredible.”
Pedigree Notes:
Just F Y I added to a monster season and day for leading second-crop sire Justify. She kicked off a rolling double for the Triple Crown winner, who followed up with GI Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine Hard to Justify in the following race on Breeders' Cup Friday. Just F Y I is one of six Grade/Group 1 winners worldwide for her sire.
Out of a stakes-placed daughter of Krikorian's MGISW and savvy $35,000 FTKOCT yearling purchase Starrer (Dynaformer), Just F Y I hails from the female family of another accomplished set of fillies in MGISW Stellar Jayne (Wild Rush) and GISW Star Billing (Dynaformer).
This is also the family of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up Uncle Benny (Declaration of War). Just F Y I's dam Star Act produced a 2023 full-sister to the victress and was bred to Life Is Good for 2024.
Street Cry (Ire) is also the broodmare sire of fellow Breeders' Cup winners Vino Rosso (Curlin) and Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).
Just F Y I wins the $1 Million @NetJets #BreedersCup Juvenile Fillies on #FutureStarsFriday at @santaanitapark! Congrats to all of her connections! pic.twitter.com/q2BRPmF895
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 3, 2023
Friday, Santa Anita Park
NETJETS BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE FILLIES-GI, $1,840,000, Santa Anita, 11-3, 2yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.58, ft.
1–JUST F Y I, 122, f, 2, by Justify
1st Dam: Star Act (SP, $147,605), by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Starrer, by Dynaformer
3rd Dam: To the Hunt, by Relaunch
O/B-George Krikorian (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $1,317,750. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Jody's Pride, 122, f, 2, by American Pharoah
1st Dam: Jody's Song, by Scat Daddy
2nd Dam: Speightful Lady, by Speightstown
3rd Dam: England's Rose, by Nureyev
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Parkland Thoroughbreds and Sportsmen Stable; B-Mr. Steve Weston (KY); T-Jorge R. Abreu. $340,000.
3–Candied, 122, f, 2, by Candy Ride (Arg)
1st Dam: Toni Tools (SW, $193,339), by Roaring Fever
2nd Dam: Patine, by Smart Strike
3rd Dam: Burnish, by Menifee
($165,000 Ylg '22 FTKJUL). O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners; B-Buck Pond Farm, Inc. (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $180,000.
Margins: NK, HF, 2 3/4. Odds: 7.00, 17.80, 2.80.
Also Ran: Life Talk, Scalable, Brightwork, Tamara, Where's My Ring, Chatalas, Accommodate Eva, Esprit Enchante, Omaha Girl. Scratched: Alys Beach.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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