Oaks Blogs

Can a horse like her be trained up to a race like the Oaks? Absolutely, especially when you have an animal of her apparent caliber in hands as good as those of the current king of the horsemen, Todd Pletcher.

But on the other hand will she be giving up something to more seasoned fillies – some of whom will have twice as many starts -- or even more -- than her? The answer once more is absolutely. But that answer begs another question --- How much?

Well, like the man said, you’ll have to bet your money and find out.

West Coasters were hoping they might see a filly or two out of the barn of the wily veteran Bruce Headley heading east for a showdown, but the guy who shared a bunkroom with Bill Shoemaker when they were a couple of kids learning the racing game said “Uh-uh” when the Oaks folks gave him a jingle. His good-looking Alphabet Soup filly Silver Swallow, who chased Rags to Riches home in the Santa Anita Oaks March 11, will stay in California and try her luck on the grass. She’s surely got the breeding for that (Alphabet Soup is by grass demon Cozzene and on the bottom side the granddaddy is Roberto’s son Red Ransom) and Headley and his main man, jockey Alex Solis, will no doubt be doing some serious lawn mowing soon.

The other Headley lass that has folks buzzing is a chestnut whiz-bang named Magnificience (and oh my, isn’t that a heckuva good name for a good racehorse). She’s only run once – winning a straight maiden sprint March 11 at Santa Anita – but she did it with such élan and quick-legged verve (spotting them all with a tardy start, yet finishing up 6 ½ in front with the Beyer tallying at 96), that folks with check books were seen swarming Headley as he came out of the winner’s circle. The Stormy Atlantic (Storm Cat, of course) filly had been working the proverbial hole in the wind coming up to that start and, just this morning (Thursday, 3/29) she put a crick in some clocker’s neck when she went three eighths in :33.80. She’ll run this Sunday in Santa Anita’s Santa Paula and her 3-year-old filly rivals had better tie their shoes tight.

But, alas, Headley likes his sunshine and it takes something special and then some (say like a Kona Gold in the Breeders’ Cup) to get him to Kentucky to race.

What we do know, though, is a couple of stakes winning West Coast-based ladies named Mistical Plan and Cash Included have Louisville in mind for the day before Derby, so the cupboard is not bare.

And then, of course, there’s always the fall-back plan of rooting for Rags to Riches – prep or no prep – when they get to running down that Churchill stretch for the Garland of Lilies.