Juddmonte Spinster Stakes 2018: Contenders & Odds

KEENELAND - Eskimo Kisses, the 6½-length runaway winner of the Alabama (G1), and multiple graded stakes winner Blue Prize (ARG) headline a field of 11 fillies and mares entered Thursday morning for Sunday's 63rd running of the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) going 1 1/8 miles on the main track.

The Juddmonte Spinster is a Breeders' Cup Challenge race with the winner getting a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Churchill Downs Nov. 3. On Sunday, the Juddmonte Spinster is the ninth race on the 10-race program with a 5:45 p.m. ET post time. First post is 1:05 p.m.

Trained by two-time race winner Kenny McPeek, Eskimo Kisses is one of five 3-year-olds in the field. In her most recent start at Keeneland, Eskimo Kisses finished second in this spring's Central Bank Ashland (G1). She next was fourth in both the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1).

Eskimo Kisses is owned by the partnership of Gainesway Stable, Harold Lerner, Andrew Rosen, Nehoc Stables and Magdalena Racing.

Jose Ortiz, who was aboard for the Alabama victory, has the call Sunday and will break from post position four.

Blue Prize (ARG), who has compiled a career mark of 15-6-7-1, was third in the Juddmonte Spinster last year in a race run over a sloppy track. She enters Sunday's race on a two-race win streak with victories in the Locust Grove (G3) and Fleur de Lis (G2) at Churchill. The latter victory earned Blue Prize a spot in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Owned by Merriebelle Stable and trained by Ignacio Correas IV, Blue Prize will be ridden by Joe Bravo and break from post position 11.

All of the other 3-year-olds in the race are graded stakes winners: Chocolate Martini (Fair Grounds Oaks-G2), Sassy Sienna(Fantasy-G3), Skeptic (Monmouth Oaks-G3) and Talk Veuve to Me (Indiana Oaks-G3).

Owned by Double Doors Racing and trained by Tom Amoss, Chocolate Martini comes into Sunday's race off a fifth-place finish in the Cotillion (G1). Corey Lanerie has the mount and will break from post position two.

G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and Ashbrook Farm's Skeptic and Sassy Sienna, owned by the partnership of China Horse Club International, Medallion Racing, Sandra Lazaruk, Zayat Stables and Jerry McClanahan, finished 1-2, respectively, in the Monmouth Oaks in their previous starts.

Trained by Rusty Arnold, Skeptic will be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. and exit position nine. Brad Cox trains Sassy Sienna, who will break from post position six under Shaun Bridgmohan.

Talk Veuve to Me, owned in partnership by Team Valor International, trainer Rodolphe Brisset and Stephen McKay, was fourth in the Alabama, finishing less than a half-length out of second. She will be ridden Sunday by Julien Leparoux from post position seven.

The field for the Juddmonte Spinster, with riders and weights, from the rail is: Tiger Moth (Florent Geroux, 124 pounds), Chocolate Martini (Lanerie, 121), Fuhriously Kissed (Jose Bracho, 124), Eskimo Kisses (Ortiz, 121), Southernperfection(Albin Jimenez, 124), Sassy Sienna (Bridgmohan, 121), Tale Veuve to Me (Leparoux, 121), Champagne Problems (Calvin Borel, 124), Skeptic (Hernandez Jr., 121), Pacific Wind (Luis Saez, 124) and Blue Prize (ARG) (Bravo, 124).

About the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes

The Juddmonte Spinster is a Grade 1 race which is traditionally held on the first Sunday of Keeneland's Fall meet. The 9-furlong contest is for fillies and mares aged three years old and up and is a challenge which takes place on the main track (which has, over the years, been dirt and Polytrack). Juddmonte has sponsored the race since 2005 and participants vie for a chance to win a portion of the $500,000 purse.

The inaugural running of the Spinster took place in 1956 and was won by the previous year's Champion Two-Year-Old in the U.S., Doubledogdare, a filly who later went on to win the U.S. Champion Three-Year-Old Title. Other notable winners of the illustrious race, one which is now categorized as a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" event, securing an automatic entry into the Breeders' Cup Distaff, include:

Hall of Fame Members:

Azeri, Bayakoa, Bowl of Flowers, Gallant Bloom, Inside Information, Paseana, Princess Rooney and Susan's Girl

U.S. Champion Older Dirt Females/Champion Female Handicap Horses:

Azeri (three-time Champion Older Female), Bayakoa (two-time Champion Older Female), Bornastar (two-time Spinster winner), Gallant Bloom, Glorious Song, Inside Information, Paseana (two-time Champion Older Female), Princess Rooney, Old Hat, Open Fire, Royal Native, Straight Deal, Susan's Girl (two-time Spinster winner), and Track Robbery

U.S. Champion Three-Year-Olds:

Banshee Breeze, Bowl of Flowers, Doubledogdare, Gallant Bloom, Lamb Chop, Royal Native, Sacahuista, Susan's Girl (two-time Spinster winner), and Tempest Queen

U.S. Champion Two-Year-Olds:

Bowl of Flowers, Doubledogdare, and Gallant Bloom

An honor roll of that distinction illustrates the elite quality of filly/mare that the Juddmonte Spinster attracts.

The fastest renewal of the Juddmonte Spinster was run in 2008 when Carriage Trail covered the 9 furlongs in a time of 1:46.77 over the synthetic surface.

Prince Khalid won the race in 2013 with homebred Emollient (pictured), her second Gr.1 win over the Keeneland main track as she captured the 2013 Gr.1 Ashland Stakes and the third Gr.1 win of her total career record including four Gr.1 victories.