Juvenile Fillies

Race No. 2 -- The Century Dream

Juvenile Fillies (1 1/16M)

By Paul Buckley

With the crowd still buzzing over the stirring stretch run of

The Sprint, 14 of Thoroughbred racing's most precocious

two-year-old fillies, seemingly unaffected by the din, head

postward to do battle. Here's the field of debutantes in post

position order:

Following are race records (two-year-old and lifetime) for

each horse, as well as notable accomplishments and other tidbits:

Now, for the race:

BEWITCH is quickest out of the gate from post 13, maintaining

a neck advantage over RUFFIAN, with AFFECTIONATELY sandwiched

between them in third as that trio passes the first quarter in an

honest :22 4/5. LANDALUCE settles into stride just off

AFFECTIONATELY's inside flank, while FLANDERS hugs the rail

around the clubhouse turn in fifth. TOP FLIGHT tracks LANDALUCE

from midpack, as COUNTESS DIANA negotiates the first turn a bit

wide and LA PREVOYANTE saves ground in pursuit of FLANDERS.

SILVERBULLETDAY gets caught widest of all on the turn, and Eddie

Delahoussaye, breaking from the extreme outside aboard IT'S IN

THE AIR, takes a firm hold of his mount and maneuvers toward the

rail. MOCCASIN, NUMBERED ACCOUNT, MEADOW STAR and PHONE CHATTER

trail the field in that order.

The leaders arrive at the half-mile mark in a sprightly :45

4/5, with BEWITCH maintaining her slim lead over RUFFIAN and

AFFECTIONATELY. LANDALUCE, FLANDERS and TOP FLIGHT hold their

stalking positions, while LA PREVOYANTE remains stuck on the rail

behind FLANDERS. The rest of the field is tightly bunched within

five to seven lengths of the pacesetters down the backside, and

it appears to be anyone's race at this point. As they head into

the far turn, however, RUFFIAN is able to wrest the lead from

BEWITCH, and AFFECTIONATELY moves into second. IT'S IN THE AIR

and SILVERBULLETDAY gear up on the outside to join the stalkers,

and MOCCASIN, NUMBERED ACCOUNT and MEADOW STAR launch their bids

from the back of the pack.

After accomplishing the first six furlongs in a taxing 1:09

4/5, the great RUFFIAN leaves a weakened AFFECTIONATELY and a

fading BEWITCH in her wake, and moves out to a two-length lead at

the top of the stretch. LANDALUCE now looms boldly as she is

asked for her best by Laffit Pincay, and TOP FLIGHT follows her

into third as Sonny Workman guides his determined filly to a

clear path on the outside. FLANDERS battles on gamely from the

rail but is not able to close on the leaders. MOCCASIN and

NUMBERED ACCOUNT weave their way through traffic into fifth and

sixth, respectively, but still have some work to do.

SILVERBULLETDAY and MEADOW STAR are passing tired horses but

running out of real estate.

RUFFIAN passes the sixteenth pole in 1:35 2/5 with a length

advantage over LANDALUCE and TOP FLIGHT, but it is TOP FLIGHT who

is mounting the most serious challenge as she cuts into RUFFIAN's

lead with every stride. Those two are on even terms a few jumps

from the wire, but in the end, it's ... TOP FLIGHT, whose final

surge carries her to a neck victory in a time of 1:42.

Following is the complete order of finish: