Stacelita eyes Filly & Mare Turf

Stacelita, moved Stateside from France earlier this year to prep for the Breeders' Cup, has gone from strength to strength to establish herself as the favorite for Friday's $2 million Filly & Mare Turf. The 1 3/8-mile race on the turf course at Churchill Downs is among six races on the first day of the two-day, $26 million Breeders' Cup slate. All but one of Friday's races are for females, with the action capped by the $2 million, 1 1/8-mile Ladies' Classic. Stacelita, trained in France by Jean-Claude Rouget before she was imported to the United States and transferred to Chad Brown, has since won two Grade One races -- the Beverly D. and the Flower Bowl. On the strength of those victories and a favorable draw in the second post she was made the 2-1 early favorite. Brown thinks the status is justified, despite an injury that prompted him to send the mare out to work with a clear plastic cup protecting her left eye. "She has been training in it for a couple of weeks now and she has been training super in it," Brown said. "No change in training. She's very comfortable with it on and Ramon Dominguez breezed her with it on last week and thought she went perfect." Stacelita went out on a routine gallop at Churchill Downs on Tuesday. "I'm very happy the way she went," Brown said. "Her energy level is good, she's getting over the track good. She's her normal self." That likely means that the less experienced Nahrain will have to improve if she is to preserve her unbeaten record. Nahrain, saddled by Newmarket-based first season trainer Roger Varian, got her first look at Churchill Downs on Tuesday as she walked a circuit of the dirt track. "She has improved with every step she has taken and I am happy at this stage at where we are," Varian said of the Selkirk daughter, who made a winning debut in May and claimed a first Group One win in the Prix de l'Opera. Nahrain will once again be ridden by Frankie Dettori, giving the Italian great a chance at a Breeders' Cup win before he begins serving a suspension on Saturday that will see him miss the main day of Breeders' Cup action. Announce, trained by France's Andre Fabre, is another strong contender after finishing runner up to Nahrain by a nose in the Prix de l'Opera on October 2, while the hopes of another European raider, Misty For Me, were dimmed by an unlucky draw in the 12th post. Graham Motion saddles both last year's upset winner Shared Account and Aruna. Shared Account went off at 46-1 last year and closed with a late run to win by a neck. Without a victory in two starts this year the five-year-old will be a longshot again, but Motion was quietly confident. "I feel very good about her coming into this race," he said. "It has been our goal for the whole year."