Close Hatches Preps for Breeders' Cup Distaff as Chalk in Spinster

Perfect in four starts in 2014, the Bill Mott-trained Close Hatches will look to keep her winning streak intact as the 3-5 morning line favorite in the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) at Keeneland on Sunday. 

The Spinster is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” race for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita on Oct. 31.

The filly is the top-ranked female racehorse in America’s Best Racing’s Thoroughbred Poll, behind only the undefeated Shared Belief and two-time reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan.  

She last tasted defeat in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff, running second behind Beholder. She started her 2014 campaign by winning the Azeri (G2) and Apple Blossom (G1) at Oaklawn Park. She then headed to New York, taking the Ogden Phipps Handicap (G1) and Personal Ensign Stakes (G1).

"She was a top filly last year, but it looked like when we got into May-June time, she kind of filled out a little bit," trainer Bill Mott told Alicia Wincze Hughes of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "By the time we got to Belmont to run in the Phipps, it looked to me she had grown a little more, lengthened out. I'd say she's pretty close to being a full, mature horse now.

The filly is currently the third choice in early betting for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at odds of 13-4, behind favorite Beholder at 57-30 and Untapable at 3-1.

She faces five seemingly overmatched foes led by the one-two finishers in the Locust Grove at Churchill Downs, Don’t Tell Sophia (9-2) and Molly Morgan (5-1).

Overseas invader Shurug (5-1) won a Group 2 in Dubai and a Group 3 in her last start in Turkey, adding some intrigue to the race. The 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Ria Antonia (10-1) and Got Lucky (15-1) complete the field.

A win in the Spinster and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff would give Close Hatches five Grade 1 wins on the year and would lock up the Eclipse Award for top older female and put her in the mix for Horse of the Year.

NBC will televise the Spinster as well as the $250,000 Dixiana Bourbon (G3), which is a “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1). The one-hour telecast gets underway at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The Dixiana Bourbon drew a field of nine led by the Dale Romans-trained Danny Boy, who is the 3-1 morning line favorite. The colt broke his maiden on turf in his debut and then was fourth in the Iroquois (G3) on the main track at Churchill Downs.

The field may be reduced to eight as the Mark Casse-trained Conquest Tsunami (7-2) is likely to go in Saturday’s Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1).

Wagering on the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Races

Spinster

Close Hatches is the speed of the race, and she is going to be very tough to run down. Her price is going to be very short, and it may even head south from her 3-5 morning line.

With the short field, a trifecta or superfecta is not going to pay much, so I am going to play a cold exacta with Close Hatches over Don’t Tell Sophia and a backup exacta with Molly Morgan in the second spot. We are not going to get rich betting on this race.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Dixiana Bourbon

This race may have better potential for a decent payoff. I am going with the likely second choice Can’t Happen Here, who was an impressive maiden winner at Saratoga in his debut. He will be saddled by trainer Chad Brown, who won this race last year with Balance the Books.

Danny Boy is a logical play, but I am also going to use Brown’s other runner Chief Kitten, who is 10-1 on the morning line. He ran well in his debut in a runner-up finish behind Startup Nation, who won the With Anticipation (G2) in his next outing at Saratoga on Aug. 28.

Morning line odds courtesy of Equibase.

Follow Michael Dempsey on Twitter @turfnsport