Every now and then I like to get off the beaten path in this blog, and when I do it’s usually for one of two reasons: it’s a Mid-Atlantic racehorse (hey, I’m a Delaware Park guy) or it’s a Thoroughbred with remarkable terminal velocity. In Ultimate loveIn this case it’s the best of both worlds.
The chestnut Curlin filly improved to 3-for-3 with a four-length dominance in the $125,000 Selima Stakes Sept. 27 at Laurel Park and is heavily considered for the $1 million John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf Oct. 31 at Del Mar.
Performance: In 2019, Sharing used a Selima Stakes victory as a springboard to a 13.80-1 victory in the Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita Park. Delen was a great filly; Ultimate Love has those kinds of benefits.
Ultimate Love picked back the pace in her first two starts to win by open lengths, leading to a debut victory of 2 ¾ lengths on July 24 at Colonial Downs and a pace of 6 ¾ lengths in an optional allowance race on September 5 at Laurel Park.
There was a lot to like after two wins in as many starts over a mile on the grass, but while Ultimate Love was visually impressive in the Laurel Park race, she didn’t finish particularly fast with a final quarter-mile in :24.38. That changed during the Selima Stakes on September 27 in Laurel, her stakes debut.
After setting a slow pace, Ultimate Love covered the final three-eighths of a mile in :34.80 and the final quarter mile in :23.03, according to the Equibase GPS map, en route to a four-length victory. She certainly seems worthy of a trip to Del Mar for the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“Those thoughts went through my mind as she crossed the finish line,” coach Mike Trombetta said.
Speed figures: Ultimate Love’s Equibase Speed Figures don’t jump off the page with a range of 71-82-78 for her three starts as the average winning Equibase figure for the Juvenile Fillies Turf has been 105.4 in the 17 editions to date. She earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 81 for her allowance win and an 80 for the Selima, which is much closer to the Beyer target range for this Breeders’ Cup race and thus more promising. Speed figures in the field can vary greatly due to pace and race format, so I focus on horses that can finish quickly or horses with a tactical advantage, such as lone speed.
Looking ahead: Ultimate Love has impressed in three starts so far and has shown the ability to finish strongly in the Selina Stakes. I think she would most likely fly under the radar coming out of Laurel Park and would have a great chance of avoiding her chances.
She is also a well-bred filly. Her sire is two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, a versatile and elite stallion, and her grandmother (maternal grandmother) is Grade 1 winner My Typhoon, by Giant’s Causeway. My Typhoon is a brother or sister of European Horse of the Year Sea The Stars and breed-building stallion Galileo. It is simply one of the best families in the studbook.
“I didn’t know how she would do on the grass,” Trombetta said after winning the stipend. “From the time we ran her on it the first time at Colonial, all the feedback was good, so here we are again. Curlin will get you dirty. The dam side is more grass. What I like about this filly is I think she’s going to be a mile-and-an-eighth, mile-and-a-quarter type of filly.”
The two immediate questions are: Has she done enough to become a busy Breeders’ Cup race with plenty of interest from European shippers, and if she qualifies, can she join them? I’m not sure about the first question, but if Ultimate Love is in, I think she has a great chance. While European invaders have won two of the last three editions of the Juvenile Fillies Turf, American runners had won eight in a row before 2022 and a total of 13 of 17 editions. I overlooked Sharing in 2019 – I won’t make that mistake in 2025 with Ultimate Love.
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