Zipse: Scylla shows star potential with Shawnee win

One year ago, Idiomatic used the Shawnee Stakes as a springboard to stardom. Recent history might be ready to repeat itself in 2024. For the second consecutive season, Juddmonte Farms brought a beautifully bred homebred to Churchill Downs for the Grade 3 affair. This time it was Scylla who looked ready to use the race on Stephen Foster preview day as a jumping-off point to something big.

In a field that included the classy Xigera, Wet Paint and Hoosier Philly, the lightly raced daughter of Tapit cruised to her first career stakes victory by 3 1/4 lengths and officially announced herself as a major player in the older female dirt division.

A big part of this developing story is the dam of Scylla. Close Hatches was accomplished on the track, taking home an Eclipse Award as the champion older female of 2014. The five-time Grade 1 winner and daughter of First Defence is proving to be every bit as good as a broodmare.

Clearly a filly bred to be a good one, Scylla is a full sister to the multiple graded-stakes winner Tacitus, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Belmont Stakes in 2019.

The charmed mating of Tapit and Close Hatches also has brought us the very promising Batten Down. The recent maiden winner is bound for the Ohio Derby (G3) after romping at Churchill Downs for trainer Bill Mott.

The Hall of Fame conditioner, who trained Close Hatches to a championship a decade ago, also has Scylla in the barn, and she could turn out to be better than both of her full brothers.

Having shown plenty of promise in her first four career races, the 4-year-old has taken a step forward in her last two.

On a day full of big performances, Scylla turned in one of the most impressive when she was a seven-length allowance winner going one mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard. Off that eye-catching victory, Scylla was made the 6-5 favorite against a solid field in the Shawnee on Saturday.

Donning blinkers for the first time, Scylla broke in mid-pack but moved up as the field of nine approached the first turn in the 1 1/16-mile race. Tracking menacingly from the outside, she sat just off Xigera as the second choice set all the fractions down the Churchill Downs backstretch.

When her regular rider Javier Castellano gave his filly her cue, Scylla decisively moved right on by Xigera early in the stretch. With Hoosier Philly and Wet Paint looming in third and fourth, the race became for second as the impressive winner cruised to the wire.

The victory improved the bay filly’s lifetime record to 6: 4-1-1 with earnings of $414,835. But just as it was last year with Idiomatic, it would seem that bigger and better things are in her future after winning the Shawnee.

Since her victorious run in the Shawnee last season, Idiomatic has added five more consecutive wins, including the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita, which clinched her championship. Interestingly, and adding to the connection with Scylla, her dam, Lockdown, is a full sister to Close Hatches.

Of course, Idiomatic is still out there and a clear leader of the older females. But 2024 is a new year, and her fellow Juddmonte homebred Scylla gives every indication of being a good one.

Extremely impressive in her last two, I expect her to be a factor the rest of the way as we move forward to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 2 at Del Mar.