Top 10 - Performances By Females Against Males

As the nation gets stoked for Rags To Riches against the boys in the Belmont I thought it would be useful to recall some of the great performances by fillies and mares against males from the past.

Only North American dirt races since 1900 were considered.

1. Gallorette - Brooklyn Handicap 1946
2. Twilight Tear - Pimlico Special 1944
3. Busher - Washington Park Handicap 1945
4. Shuvee - Jockey Club Gold Cup 1971
5. Winning Colors - Kentucky Derby 1988
6. Genuine Risk - Kentucky Derby 1980
7. Safely Kept - Breeders Cup Sprint 1990
8. Two Lea - Hollywood Gold Cup 1952
9. Cicada - Florida Derby 1962
10. Bewitch - Washington Futurity 1947

1. Gallorette - Brooklyn Handicap 1946
I had a tough time coming to a final decision but I decided to give the top spot to Gallorette for her performance in the Brooklyn Handicap. Gallorette actually ran against males an incredible 53 times and accumulated a record of 12-15-9 over 5 years of competition. She was certainly one of the toughest mares of all time and had many great performances in open company. But the one that really stands out is taking the 1946 Brooklyn Handicap against Stymie. The Champion Handicap Horse simply could not get by a tough a determined Gallorette and unlike many of the other races where fillies excel Gallorette did not simply go to the lead. She stalked the pace and simply outgamed the Champion in a truly run contest.

2. Twilight Tear - Pimlico Special 1944
It is quite something for a filly to tackle males, it is something else entirely for a 3yo filly to take on older males. That is precisely what Twilight Tear did on her way to Horse of the Year honours in 1944. The Pimilico Special was her 17th start of the year and she had won 13 of those starts including 11 in a row and had beaten the Kentucky Derby winner, twice. In her last start prior to the Special she faced 3yo males and put in the worst performance of her life, fading badly to be beaten 15 lengths. Trainer Ben Jones must have had a lot of faith in her to bring her back just 10 days later against defending handicap champion Devil Diver who was on his way to winning a second championship for his division. This was a showdown and Horse of The Year was up for grabs. But the running of Pimlico Special itself was nearly anti climatic. Twilight Tear simply got to the front and improved her position, smashing Devil Diver by 6 lengths and equalling Seabiscuits time for his Pimlico Special victory. It was an authoritative victory and it saw Twilight Tear rightly crowned as the best horse in 1944.

3. Busher - Washington Park Handicap 1945
You may have noticed that all of the first three fillies on my list ran in the 40's. That decade saw many of the greatest fillies of all time compete. Many of them faced males regularly and simply accomplished a great deal. Twilight Tear and Busher were both named Horse of the year as 3yo fillies and they raced in back to back years. No 3yo filly has been so honoured since. Busher was a machine in 1945. By mid-September she had already won from 6f to 10f over 3yo fillies, 3yo colts, older females and even older males. I think her best performance came in the Washington Park Handicap where she handled the venerable Armed who would later be Horse of The Year and broke the Arlington track record in the process.

4. Shuvee - Jockey Club Gold Cup 1971
Any filly who can beat the boys over two miles in the year end championship race deserves to be mentioned. A filly who can do it twice in a row is just incredible. Shuvee did not consistently find the winners circle in her 44 race career. She won only 36% of her races but her real talent was staying. She could run all day and she won 71% of her races at 10f or more. The competition she beat in the pair of her Jockey Club Gold Cups was not all that strong but in 1971, in what was the last race of her career she cruelly abused the competition and won the Gold Cup by 7 lengths in 3:20 2/5. Only Kelso and Damascus managed to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup in a faster time.

5. Winning Colors - Kentucky Derby 1988
This is one of the more recent races in the Top 10. Some may even have witnessed the massive Lukas filly's tour de force in the 88' Derby. She had already beaten makes in the Santa Anita Derby but Kentucky Derby is a much stiffer test. The Derby is a hard race to win, it is even harder to win all the way on the front. That was most certainly a very special day under the twin spires.

6. Genuine Risk - Kentucky Derby 1980
I rate this Derby winning performance slightly lower than Winning Colors impressive romp. It is always impressive when a filly, especially a 3yo filly going two turns, manages to beat the boys. I think the crop she was facing was generally an inferior one. But she was the first filly since 1915 to win the Kentucky Derby.

7. Safely Kept - Breeders Cup Sprint 1990
I loved both of her efforts in the BC Sprint but I think she was better in 1990 despite the fact that it took some luck to beat Dayjur. Safely Kept went right to the front as always and was pushed through very quick fractions. It appeared as though Dayjur was getting the upper hand until he jumped the shadows but you can't be sure. Safely Kept was one tenacious filly.

8. Two Lea - Hollywood Gold Cup 1952
Two Lea is the second of 3 Calumet fillies on the list. That famed stable had some of the finest distaffers of all time. Two Lea was out of the money just once, when she was 4th against males in the Inglewood. She managed to finish a length behind Citation in one of his duels with Noor. She had many great performances to choose from but personally I liked her win in the Hollywood Gold Cup. She was giving actual weight to her nearest challengers and became one of only 3 fillies to win the race.

9. Cicada - Florida Derby 1962
This is the only losing performance on the list, it is also the only race of the 60's. Cicada lost the Florida Derby by a scant nose to Ridan. The pair had distanced themselves from the rest of the field and Cicada was bearing out under Shoemaker. She was unlucky to lose and Ridan was certainly no slouch as he was multiple classic placed and would later have a famous duel with rival Jaipur in the Travers.

10. Bewitch - Washington Futurity 1947
The only 2yo performance to make it on the list. In general 2yo fillies are more precocious than males so victories are less significant but this performance was most certainly special. The Washington Futurity in 1947 featured Citation vs. Bewitch. It was a matchup of the two best juveniles in the nation. Although it is said that the trainer had a "no passing" order for the stretch run it still has to be considered significant that she beat him. They both had good early speed but Bewitch was clearly quicker on the day and had built a 4 length lead by the 1/8th pole. I highly doubt big Cy would have gotten to her in any case. In the first 29 races of his life Citation only lost twice and one of those was to this filly. later in their career's they would renew the rivalry and possibly the best matchup was in the 1951 American Handicap. Citation just edged by a stubborn Bewitch by half a length.

I had a hard time with this list. I'm still not sure that I have it right. What do you think are the top 10 best performances by fillies against the males? Does Rags To Riches have a shot at joining this group?