Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf Betting Tips, Offers and Free Bets

There is something for just about everyone on the Saturday card at the Breeders’ Cup, with this race giving the middle-distance fillies and mares their chance to shine on turf. Here we take a look at the best odds and offers and provide our betting tips for the Breeders’ Cup Fillies and Mares Turf.

This 1m2f contest first joined the Breeders’ Cup show in 1999. A Grade 1 event open to fillies and mares aged three and older, the race now offers $2 million in total prize money. Check out our tips for the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Breeders’ Cup Turf too!

Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf Tips

The Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf is one of the premier races on the second day of the Breeders’ Cup Carnival. This year, the racing takes place at Santa Anita and some hugely talented fillies and mares have made the trip to California to compete in this 1 mile 2 furlong, Group 1 clash.

Sistercharlie Looks a Cut Above

There is no doubt how the bookies believe the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf is going to pan out. Sistercharlie is a very clear favourite with the best price you can find about the five-year-old the 11/10 that Ladbrokes are quoting.

We tipped her at longer odds than this a year ago but the five-year-old left looked as though she’d left it too late in the 2018 renewal of this race at Churchill Downs. However, she showed the incredible turn of foot that she’s become known for to land a fourth Group 1 of the season. The tight nature of the track at Santa Anita means that she will need to be in a better place come the closing furlong. That is well within her capabilities though and punters are still rushing to support her in the betting.

Just like 12 months ago, Sistercharlie heads into the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on the back of a good run of form. She’s won all three races she’s contested this year and Chad Brown is confident that she’ll be in tip top shape when she gets to California. She will need to be as strong as ever given the quality of her competition but Sistercharlie is the worthy favourite and also the one for us.

Billesdon Brook Looks Overpriced

Although we have a very clear favourite, the bookies are much less clear about who will put up the stiffest challenge to Sistercharlie. Iridessa has been competing exclusively in top level races this season with very good results, Fleeting has run very well but has been the nearly horse too often and Villa Marina leads the way for French horses.

The value, though, may well lie with the winner of 2018’s 1000 Guineas who has finally started winning again. Billesdon Book’s formed picked up enough over the summer for Richard Hannon to try her at the top level and she won her first Group 1 since the Guineas in October’s Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket.

It would have been very easy for connections to have retired Billesdon Brook at the end of last season. Their decision to keep her racing and the efforts of all those who look after her are now paying dividends. She may well go on to compete for another season and can end this current campaign with another huge performance.

Betting Predictions

Sistercharlie is one of the strongest favourites of the day at Santa Anita. She will face a very tough group of competitors so will doubtless need to be at the top of her game to justify the amount of support she’s getting at 11/10 with Ladbrokes. There’s nothing to suggest that she will drop below the standards she’s shown lately though. As for a potential upset, Billesdon Brook looks the standout option in the betting at 14/1 with bet365. Back her each way.

Previous Winners

  • 2018 – Sistercharlie – jockey John R. Velazquez, trainer Chad Brown
  • 2017 – Wuheida – jockey William Buick, trainer Charlie Appleby
  • 2016 – Queen’s Trust – jockey Frankie Dettori, trainer Sir Michael Stoute
  • 2015 – Stephanie’s Kitten – jockey Irad Ortiz, trainer Chad Brown
  • 2014 – Dayatthespa – jockey Javier Castellano, trainer Chad Brown
  • 2013 – Dank – jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Sir Michael Stoute
  • 2012 – Zagora – jockey Javier Castellano, trainer Chad Brown
  • 2011 – Perfect Shirl – jockey John Velazquez, trainer Roger Attfield
  • 2010 – Shared Account – jockey Edgar Prado, trainer Graham Motion
  • 2009 – Midday – jockey Tom Queally, trainer Henry Cecil
  • 2008 – Forever Together – jockey Julien Leparoux, trainer Jonathan Sheppahrd
  • 2007 – Lahudood – jockey Alan Garcia, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin
  • 2006 – Ouija Board – jockey Kieren Fallon, trainer Ed Dunlop

Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf History

First run in 1999, the conditions of this race have remained the same since the inaugural edition. The distance over which the race is run however does differ slightly from year to year. With the Breeders’ Cup being an event which moves around the top US tracks rather than having a fixed abode, this contest has taken place over distances of 1 1/4m, 1 3/8m and 1 3/16m, depending upon the configuration of the host track.

European runners held their own in the early editions of this contest, with four wins in the first eight years. Having only recorded two victories since 2007 however, it is the US who now lead the way here with 11 wins to Europe’s 7 as of 2016.

Europe does however boast the filly, who for our money is the best ever winner of this race, and indeed the only horse to win it twice, the brilliant Ouija Board. Having beaten Film Maker into second at Lone Star Park in 2004, Ed Dunlop’s superstar returned two years later to reclaim her crown at Churchill Downs in 2006, with Film Maker once again back in second. With wins in the English and Irish Oaks, Hong Kong Vase, Nassau Stakes and Prince of Wales’s Stakes also on her CV, Ouija Board must feature on any top 10 list of the greatest ever fillies.

Chad Brown was formerly an assistant to the legendary US trainer and man in whose honour the greatest racehorse of all time was named, Robert J. Frankel, but struck out on his own as a trainer in 2007. He first took this prize in 2012, but by 2015 had three wins to his name, moving him past his former mentor and the UK trainers Sir Michael Stoute and Ed Dunlop to become the most successful trainer in the history of the race. With Stoute’s win in 2016 the pair were level on three wins each. However, the American landed this once again in 2018 to move clear.

Similarly, until 2018 we had a (five-way) tie in the jockeys’ standings. Kieren Fallon and Frankie Dettori sat alongside the US stars, Jerry Bailey, John Velazquez and Javier Castellano on two wins. However, it was Velazquez who rode Sistercharlie to glory for Brown in 2018 and so he is now out in front all by himself.