Contenders

Gary Hartlage

Louisville native Gary "Red Dog" Hartlage was born January 5, 1947 and still resides in his hometown with his wife Jacinda. Hartlage currently has about 12 horses, but had a larger stable in the past when associated with owners Bea and Country Roberts. Hartlage trains in Louisville for most of the year, where he was Churchill Downs' leading trainer for the 1989 Fall Meet, but travels to Oaklawn for their winter/spring meet. For several seasons, Judge T C headed Hartlage's stable. Judge T C was a winner of more than $800,000 including the Clark Handicap (GII) and Oaklawn's 1994 Rebel Stakes. Other top Hartlage trainees were Ornate, the dam of High Heels, Savings, Sea Trek and Packet. Hartlage will be saddling his first Oaks starter.

Joe Johnson

"Jockey" Joe Johnson has been riding since 1989. The Owensboro, Kentucky native now lives in Louisville with his wife and two children. His brother Pat is also a rider. Johnson has had a long association with Hartlage, working as a hotwalker, groom and exercise rider prior to his riding career. Johnson has been on the Kentucky-Arkansas circuit since his career began, with his best year coming in 1991, when his mounts earned over $1.9 million.

Anita Ebert

Anita Ebert, of Monrovia, Indiana, bred High Heels from her mare Ornate, who also raced with Hartlage. Anita, along with her husband Barry, purchase Ornate in a 1998 Fasig-Tipton sale, and actually had her in a sale at Keeneland in 2003 when she was pregnant with High Heels, but she failed to meet her reserve price. Coincidentally, Ornate and High Heels are Ebert's first two stakes winners.

Anita Ebert (KY)

Anita Ebert, of Monrovia, Indiana, bred High Heels from her mare Ornate, who also raced with Hartlage. Anita, along with her husband Barry, purchase Ornate in a 1998 Fasig-Tipton sale, and actually had her in a sale at Keeneland in 2003 when she was pregnant with High Heels, but she failed to meet her reserve price. Coincidentally, Ornate and High Heels are Ebert's first two stakes winners.

High Heels is from the first crop of the young stallion E Dubai. Though he is a son of Mr. Prospector, E Dubai was more than a sprinter. Other than his maiden win, all of his wins came at 1 1/16 miles or greater. He was relatively lightly raced, running just 11 times, winning five of those. At three, he won the Dwyer (GII) and was second in both the Travers (GI) and Super Derby (GII), both 1-¼ mile events. At four, he won the Suburban (GII), another 10-furlong race, defeating the likes of Lido Palace and Macho Uno. He had 20 winners from his first crop last year, including stakes winners Barilko and Spark of Dubai. To date, he has sired four stakes winners. He currently stands at Darley Stud in Kentucky.

The homebred High Heels is out of Ebert’s mare Ornate, whom she also raced with Hartlage. Ornate won the Pleasant Temper Stakes on the turf at Kentucky Downs as the highlight of her career that included seven wins and earnings of $177,972. High Heels is her first foal. The first few generations are solid, if not spectacular, with several stakes winners or placed horses in the first few generations. High Heels’ fourth dam Light Verse is also the granddam of Olympio, an earner of over $1.4 million, track record setter at 1 1/8 miles, and winner of four Derbies (Hollywood, Arkansas, American and Minnesota).

The two grandsires of High Heels (Mr. Prospector and Gilded Time) were both top class sprinters, but the former did prove to be able to sire distance runners, such as E Dubai and Fusaichi Pegasus. The latter is, however, descended from Secretariat’s broodmare sire Princequillo, a solid stamina influence. In addition, High Heels’ third dam is the granddaughter of Nijinsky II, winner of the 1970 English Triple Crown and sire of 1986 Derby winner Ferdinand.

HIGH HEELS has become the “now” filly after her big score in the Fantasy (GII) over Cotton Blossom and Cash Included. Prior to that, she wasn’t really on the radar with two wins in nine starts. Connections have always thought highly of her, even nominating to the Triple Crown. That may be a little overzealous, but she certainly has made her case as one of the better ones in her division. The big closing kick she showed at Oaklawn is worth noting, as there is enough speed in here to set up her run. Her workouts here at Churchill have made a good impression on people in the know on the backside, and homeboy trainer has everybody in Louisville rooting for her. Hard not to get infected by the enthusiasm surrounding her, but would demand at least 8-1 for a horse that needs some racing luck to get the job done.