European participants unsettled

With expected defections, the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar may not be as deep come race day on Nov. 6 as it looks at pre-entry time.

Eleven of the 16 pre-entered for the Filly and Mare Turf – a 1 3/8 mile race limited to 14 starters – come from Europe. However, big names like Tarnawa, Love, and Teona are also pre-entered for the $4 million Turf and have listed that 1 1/2-mile race against males as their first preference. Tarnawa won the Turf last year and trainer Dermot Weld said Wednesday it’s “pretty certain” she will go for a repeat.

Teona is coming off a 1 1/2-length victory in the Prix Vermeille at 1 1/2 miles so she’s proven at the Turf distance.

Love, trained by Aidan O’Brien, has always seemed meant for the Turf, but was one of five horses he pre-entered for that race and only one of two he pre-entered for the Filly and Mare Turf.

Rougir could be the top European threat coming off a nose victory in the Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp on Oct. 3. Though that race was run over heavy turf, her connections feel she’ll be just fine over firm ground.

“The ground is not a question for her,” Pauline Chehboub, racing manager for Rougir’s owner Le Haras de la Gousserie, wrote in an email. “She can do both firm ground and soft ground. What is important for her is the pace.”

Loves Only You, a 5-yearold Japanese daughter of Deep Impact, came within a halflength of Mishriff in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic. She defeated males in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth at Sha Tin in Hong Kong. Loves Only You is also pre-entered in the Turf, but listed the Filly and Mare Turf as first preference.

If Love competes in the Turf, O’Brien’s lone Filly and Mare Turf representative would be La Joconde, who finished third in the Yorkshire Oaks and Prix Vermeille, both Group 1 stakes. She has had a busy October, running 10th in the Group 3 Pride Stakes at Newmarket on Oct. 8 and fourth in the British Champions Fillies and Mare Stakes at Ascot on Oct. 16.

Of the five U.S.-based runners, War Like Goddess is a standout. The Bill Mott trainee has won her last four races, including the Grade 1 Flower Bowl. She arrived in California on Tuesday and should work at Del Mar over the weekend.

Chad Brown, who has won the Filly and Mare Turf four times, pre-entered My Sister Nat and Pocket Square, both coming off Grade 3 stakes wins at Belmont. Going to Vegas and Dogtag, who finished 1-2 in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee at Del Mar in September and 1-3 in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita on Oct. 2, make up the California contingent.

Reina de Mollendo and Queen Supreme won automatic qualifying races for the Filly and Mare Turf earlier in the year but look in deep.

Acanaella, a Group 3 winner in Ireland, and Ocean Road, just 1 for 5 in her career, are both on the also-eligible list, but with expected defections should draw in.