Oaks Blogs

I have to admit being surprised that the connections of Dreaming of Anna are thinking about runniing in the Kentucky Oaks.

Earlier in the year, it wouldn't have seemed to be an unusual thought for the two-year-old filly champ of 2006 to take her place in the starting gate for the Kentucky Oaks.  But her three-year-old campaign hasn't gone according to plan and surely Dreaming of Anna would be playing catch-up in a major way as she hasn't raced for a couple of months after losing both of her starts at Gulfstream.

Please understand, I was one of Dreaming of Anna's biggest fans last year.  Her best race may have come when winning on turf against the boys at Woodbine in her final start before taking the B.C. Juvenile Fillies. 

On Breeders' Cup Day last year, I made an appearance on Channel 4's Morning Line, my first and only time on national non-cable TV (other than being a contestant on Press Your Luck) in England or in the U.S.  Dreaming of Anna was my selection as the best bet on the card and I had backed her with Coral's (a British bookmaking firm) at 7-1 after the pre-entries were announced.  She was the start of a nice winning sequence followed by Street Sense in the Juvenile and Oujia Board in the F+M Turf, which allowed yours truly to hit a couple of nice bets.

Also, as a Chicago homeboy, it was nice to see a local horse fare well on a worldwide stage.

I truly hope that ego isn't getting in the way of what is best for Dreaming of Anna and surely it will be a tough task going a distance that may be beyond her best without having started in many weeks following the worse two performances of her life.