Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
WHICH FILLY IS THE ONLY ONE TO WIN THE ALABAMA STAKES (GI) AND THE BREEDERS' CUP DISTAFF (GI) IN THE SAME YEAR?
8/14/2020
This weekend Saratoga will run the Alabama Stakes (GI). It is a race for 3-year-old fillies. Most see the race as the premier race for 3-year-old fillies in the country. Winners have been acclaimed the best of their gender and gone on to Hall of Fame status. This year will see one of those potential stars, Swiss Skydiver. Most think that this filly’s greatness will only blossom in the fall and at the Breeders’ Cup. Given the importance of the Alabama Stakes one might expect that many winners of that race went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Surprising they haven’t. Only two horse that have won the Alabama Stakes have won the Distaff. Most recently Stopchargingmaria won the Distaff in 2015 at age 4. She won the Alabama the year before. The only filly to have won both the Alabama and the Distaff in the same year was Royal Delta who accomplished it in 2011. Will Swiss Skydiver match that feat in 2020? Or as some predict with success in the Alabama this weekend, willshe will look to take the boys on in one of the two remaining Triple Crown races? With a strong second place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes that is a reasonable thought.