Ultimate Love leads Selima duo in BC Juvenile Fillies Turf * The Racing Biz

When Ultimate Love took home the Selima Stakes at Laurel Park in September, trainer Michael Trombetta allowed himself to think bigger.

“Those thoughts went through my head when she crossed the finish line,” he said at the time, referring to a possible bid for the Breeders’ Cup. Now, just weeks later, the undefeated filly will look to make an impact in Friday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) at Del Mar.

Ultimate Love, a daughter of Curlin, bred from the deep female family of My Typhoon, Galileo and Sea the Stars, has been perfect through three starts – none of them close. She debuted at Colonial Downs in July with a nearly three-length romp on the grass, added an allowance at Laurel in September and took her first stakes test in the Selima with the same effortless authority.

“I didn’t know how she would do on the grass,” Trombetta admitted after the award score. “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.”

In the Selima, Ultimate Love, homebred for Live Oak Plantation, was rated in the middle pack before clearing the field in the final furlong to win by four lengths. Her winning time – 1:43.58 over 1 1/16 miles on firm grass – was almost a second faster than the boys, led by Proton, who achieved it one race earlier in the Laurel Futurity.

That mix of endurance and composure could serve her well on Friday in a completely international field. The filly still needs to be seriously challenged, judged kindly and finish with purpose at every start.

Trombetta, whose best finish in the Breeders’ Cup was a runner-up finish to Wet Your Whistle in the 2020 Turf Sprint, believes there is still a lot of untapped potential.

“Maybe she’s a good one,” he said just after the Selima.

John Velazquez has the mountain. Ultimate Love is 8-1 on the morning line.

Celebrity Warrior chased her home in the Selima, who led most of the way and had no answers for the winner, but hung on to stay second. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the daughter of Saxon Warrior has made just two starts so far, finishing second in both a Saratoga girls event and the Selima.

Pletcher has won 15 Breeders’ Cup races in his distinguished career, including this 2010 race with More Than Real. That year he also won the Juvenile Turf, with Pluck, and the Juvenile with Uncle Mo.

Celebrity Warrior is 30-1 on the morning line and will have Luis Saez in the irons.

The strong favorite in the morning line, at 6-5, is Precise. The Aidan O’Brien-trained, Irish-bred Starspangledbanner filly has won four in a row since finishing second on her debut. That run includes Group 1 victories in the Fillies Mile at Newmarket on October 10 and in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh on September 14. Christophe Soumillon is mentioned.