Scylla speeds to dominate Distaff upset

Juddmonte Farms’ homebred Scylla broke on top and, after showing the way on a short lead, the five-year-old mare drew off stylishly in the stretch of the $1,840,000 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Del Mar. Overlooked at 7.60-1, the Bill Mott-trained daughter of Tapit registered her first Grade 1 win in her final career start, making a case for champion older dirt female with the 5 1/2-length decision, and Junior Alvarado was up.

Scylla reeled off solid opening splits in :22.27, :45.75, and 1:10.02 before putting the race away, finishing up 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.07.

“I didn’t know how it would go,” Mott said of her trip. “She broke, she put him there, and Junior had the good sense not to drag her back. When you let them go the lead, there is a risk that you are going to go fast. And she did. And she kept going. I was a little worried she might come back to them. I kept watching, and she turned for home and opened up.”

Runner-up in the seven-furlong Ballerina (G1) two back, the versatile Kentucky-bred was exiting a third in the Oct. 5 Spinster (G1) at Keeneland in which she missed the break. She had placed in two other graded sprint stakes this season, but Scylla had not won since the Fleur de Lis (G2) in June 2024, snapping an eight-race losing streak in the Distaff.

“She's a filly, so you just have to get out of her way,” Alvarado said. “She wants to do things her own way. I think, today, when she broke out of there very aggressively, that was my first thought. ‘If you want to do it, I'm gonna let you do it.’ And that's what she did. She went a little quicker at first part to get to the lead, but like I said, she was doing it fairly easy for her. 

“In the second quarter, I could feel she slowed down. She came back to me. She relaxed, so I was very happy. Once we hit the half-mile pole, I was like, ‘Oh boy, I mean, I feel loaded right now.’ And then when I turned for home, and she just like rebroke again, and I mean, it was an outstanding race today for her.”

The muddled status of the dirt older female division puts Scylla in the mix for Eclipse honors, and she retires with earnings of $2,287,795 from a 16-6-5-3 record.

Grade 1 winner Nitrogen, a six-time stakes winner this season, probably wrapped up champion three-year-old filly honors, rallying for second as the 7-2 second choice. It was another half-length to Regaled, who closed from 11th during the early stages to finish third at 30-1.

Clicquot, Dorth Vader, Gun Song, Sarawak Rim, Dry Powder, Majestic Oops, and Alice Verite followed. Seismic Beauty, the 6-5 favorite, bobbled after the break and was eventually eased to the wire, and Gin Gin wound up being eased after prompting the pace. Both runners walked back to the barn.

Scylla, a regally bred bay out of champion older female Close Hatches, counts multiple Grade 2-winning millionaire and sire Tacitus and Grade 3 winner Batten Down as full-brothers. Her immediate female family includes multiple champion older dirt female Idiomatic, the 2023 Distaff winner.

Check out TwinSpires.com for 2025 Breeders' Cup LIVE Coverage during Breeders' Cup Weekend!

| Betting | Odds | Handicapping | Challenge | Prep Races | Contenders | Winners | History | Results |