The fields for the 14 races that comprise the Breeders’ Cup World Championships really begin to come into focus in summer and fall and this regular feature will offer a snapshot profile of one of the previous weekend’s standout stars.

While Anisette did not win a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race last weekend, she gave every appearance of a breakout star in her 2 ¾-length, last-to-first win in the $302,500 Del Mar Oaks. Anisette could be a contender for the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf or she could target the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF, which has historically been very favorable to closers. Her connections might also opt for a race restricted to 3-year-old fillies like the $600,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes Presented by Dixiana in October, but regardless of the fall destination the Awtaad filly looks like an elite talent long on potential.

Anisette made three starts in her native England, all on synthetic surfaces in 2022, and was purchased privately by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners after a four-length win in December at Wolverhampton. She has thus far proved an astute buy with three wins in as many starts in the U.S., beginning with a three-quarter-length allowance win May 29 at Santa Anita Park in her first race on grass.

Anisette trailed the 12-horse field through a half-mile in her stateside debut, but she passed 11 opponents in the second half of a mile and secured the victory with a final quarter-mile in a very fast :22.41 (according to my estimated calculations) under Flavien Prat.

Umberto Rispoli climbed aboard for her stakes debut in the one-mile, Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes July 22 at Del Mar. Rispoli nudged Anisette a bit early to stay in contact with a fast pace – opening quarter-mile in :22.33 in a 14-horse field – and maybe did not quite realize yet how much acceleration she had. She responded when called upon on the final turn, swept five wide into the stretch, and simply overwhelmed the opposition in surging to a 2 ½-length win. Given the fact that she was within 4 ½ lengths after a sprightly half-mile and lost significant ground entering the stretch, it’s no shock that Anisette’s final quarter-mile in :23.21 was not quite as fast as she completed one mile in 1:34.84.

Trainer Leonard Powell next targeted the 1 1/8-mile, Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks and the added distance was no issue. Rispoli was very content to relax at the back of the field with Anisette, 11 ¾ lengths behind an opening half-mile in :47.21, and let the 4-5 favorite use her speed late. She advanced on the far turn under Rispoli, who tipped her out briefly but then guided her back inside when things opened up, and she again dominated the opposition. Anisette completed the final three-eighths of a mile in :34.94. so as usual she was absolutely flying late with a final eighth of a mile in about 11.30 seconds. This is a serious racehorse.

“She’s been very straightforward since we got her,” Powell told BloodHorse of Anisette. “She’s like a little moped. You can put her wherever you want. She's got a great quality in that she’s got two or three moves in a race, not only one move. That’s a great help for a jockey.”

Sometimes you’ll find off-the-pace closers that get a bit rank early and want to go, while others need a lot of encouragement to really get moving, but that is not Anisette, who has appeared extremely responsive in her U.S. races as Powell indicated above.

A high five between Rispoli and Eclipse’s Aron Wellman. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Anisette has a pedigree that might be unfamiliar to many U.S. racing fans as her sire, Awtaad, has had only 10 stakes winners to date in four crops of racing age after winning the 2016 Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas. Her dam, the Teofilo mare Tutti Frutti, was winless in four starts but hit the board three times and is a very close sibling to Sultanina, who won the Group 1 Markel Insurance Nassau Stakes at about 1 ¼ miles in 2014 and was a group stakes winner at about 1 ½ miles. So, while the names don’t leap off the pedigree page, there is plenty of quality there.

I think Anisette probably could stretch out in distance for the 1 ¼-mile Filly and Mare Turf if her connections opt to go that route. She also could be a serious player in the Mile despite being a 3-year-old filly taking on males, for several reasons:

• Fillies can and do win the Mile with six female winners in the last 20 editions, including 3-year-olds Six Perfections (2003) and Goldikova (2008). Likewise six total 3-year-olds have won the Mile since 2003, including three of the last five editions, most recently Modern Games last year.
• Typically U.S.-based runners do not have the top-end finishing speed that European invaders have in stateside turf racing, but that is not the case with Anisette who has elite closing speed. She also was bred in Europe as have been the last five Mile winners.
• The Mile is a race that is unkind to speed horses. Only one of the last 20 editions was won by a runner who preferred to race near the lead (World Approval in 2017) and 16 of the 20 were won by stalker-closer type horses, like Anisette.
• Quality matters in the Mile as 15 of the last 20 Mile victors were Grade 1 winners, like Anisette, before the race.

It’s tough to predict at this point what races Anisette will be pointed to, but one thing I feel very confident in saying is that a new star in the turf female division emerged this summer at Del Mar.