Scylla - A Rising Star in the Older Fillies & Mares Division

It was only a year ago that Idiomatic used the Shawnee Stakes at Churchill Downs as her coming-out party. Idiomatic won the race, which propelled her to eventual Eclipse honors as Older Dirt Female of the Year. After a noteworthy performance in the same race, the owners of Scylla are looking for a similar fate.

It's important to note that the owners of Scylla are the same ones who own Idiomatic. That ownership would be the legendary Juddmonte Farms. Juddmonte Farms has been a major player in the international horse racing industry since 1977. Its most notable champions include Frankel, Enable, Kingman, and Banks Hill. Idiomatic also belongs on this list after accumulating a record-to-date of 14-10-2-2 for earnings of around $3.2 million. Idiomatic is currently awaiting her next start sometime in August at Saratoga Racecourse. Idiomatic is trained by Brad Cox

Introducing Juddmonte's Scylla

As for Scylla, she is a lightly raced 4-year-old who is just learning what it takes to be a top-level racehorse. Under the tutelage of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, the beautifully bred filly has accumulated a race record of 6-4-1-1 with earnings of $414,000. Her easy victory in the 2024 edition of the Shawnee Stakes was her first attempt to win in graded stakes competition. In the process, she beat other graded stakes winners like Xigera, Wet Paint, and Hoosier Philly. Indeed, this was her coming out party where she announced she will be a force to be reckoned with into the foreseeable future.

As for that beautiful breeding, her sire was Tapit, winner of the 2004 Grade I Wood Memorial Stakes. Notably, Tapit has been a premiere sire since he headed off to the breeding sheds in 2005. Her dam was the incomparable Close Hatches. Also owned by Juddmonte and trained by Mott, Close Hatches had a race record of 14-9-2-0. She won five (5) Grade I events and finished just behind the legendary Beholder in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). Her earnings came in at $2,707,000.

Based on what racing fans say on June 1 at Churchill Downs, it's fair to say that expectations are running high on Scylla. The ease at which she won the Shawnee Stakes was not evident by the 3 1/2 length margin. At no point in the race did she look like anything but the winner of the race.

Going forward, Juddmonte will have to figure out how to keep Idiomatic and Scylla apart on the race track. They are both destined to run in Grade I events as they target a meeting at the 2024 Breeders Cup at Del Mar Racecourse in early November. Until the Breeders Cup, Cox and Mott will be looking for guidance from Juddmonte's U.S.-based racing manager.

In an interesting twist of fate, Idiomatic's dam was Lockdown, who is a full sister to Close Hatches. It will be fun watching these cousins of sorts duking it out on the race track over the rest of the 2024 racing season.