Oaks Updates

TOP KENTUCKY OAKS 133 STORIES:

• RAGS TO RICHES DAZZLES IN LAS VIRGENES VICTORY
• DREAM RUSH UPSETS CHAMP DREAMING OF ANNA
• APPEALING ZOPHIE ROLLS IN SILVERBULLETDAY

WEST/RAGS TO RICHES DAZZLES IN STAKES DEBUT IN LAS VIRGENES – She attracted a winning bid of $1.9 million in the sales ring, so the name of Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith’s Rags to Riches is hardly descriptive of any success she might enjoy in her career on the racetrack. But continued improvement by the daughter of A.P. Indy following Saturday’s star-making victory in Santa Anita’s $250,000 Las Virgenes (Grade I) will likely attach the phrase “Kentucky Oaks favorite” to that name in the weeks leading up to Churchill Downs premier event for 3-year-old fillies on Friday, May 4.

The Todd Pletcher-trained Rags to Riches jumped from scoring her first career victory to a win in the first Grade I stakes event of the year for 3-year-old fillies when she overcame traffic problems to nip pacesetter Baroness Thatcher in the final strides of the one-mile Las Virgenes.

Jockey Garrett Gomez was aboard as Rags to Riches as she won by three-quarters of a length and covered the distance in 1:37.0. Baroness Thatcher held on for second and Runway Rosie was third in a field in which all but one of its eight fillies were listed among the wagering interests in the first pool of Churchill Downs’ 2007 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.

Rags to Riches, a half-sister to 2006 Belmont Stakes (GI) winner Jazil who was listed as a 20-1 risk in handicapper Mike Battaglia’s morning line for the Oaks Future Bet, closed as the $3.80-to-1 second choice in Pool 1. She trailed only the mutuel field – which included all 3-year-old fillies other than the pool’s 21 individual betting interests. The “all others” interest was the Pool 1 favorite at $3.40-to-1.

Pletcher’s filly won the Grade I Las Virgenes in just her third career start and overcame a wide journey during the race to do so.

“She overcame a lot today and is not very seasoned,” said Gomez. “I have high hopes for her.”

Rags to Riches was so impressive in a six-length maiden victory at Santa Anita on Jan. 7 that on Saturday she broke from the starting gate as the 5-2 favorite in a field of stakes veterans that included a pair of Grade I winners.

Cash Included finished fourth, followed by Swiss Diva, Quick Little Miss, Romance Is Diane, and Jump On In. Slew o’ Platinum was a late scratch.

Eastlake Avenue Gives Hollendorfer 1-2 finish in Cal Oaks – George Todaro’s Eastlake Avenue wore down Glorification in a battle of Jerry Hollendorfer-trained stablemates to win Saturday’s $100,000 California Oaks at Golden Gate Fields.

The two fillies staged a virtual match race as they battled over “sloppy” going and finished 19 lengths in front of their nearest rival in the field of four fillies. Eastlake Avenue started her career at Washington’s Emerald Downs, where a win in a $7,500 maiden claiming race was her only victory in six races. The daughter of the Hollendorfer-trained Globalize is unbeaten in three starts since she moved to her new trainer’s Northern California stable.

SOUTHEAST/DREAM RUSH AN OLD HAT NIGHTMARE FOR CHAMPION DREAMING OF ANNA, CHRISTMAS KID WINS DAVONA DALE – In a race that many fans expected to be an easy win for reigning juvenile filly champion Dreaming of Anna, it was West Point Thoroughbreds’ and Lewis Lakin’s Dream Rush that rolled to an easy victory in the $150,000 Old Hat (GIII) at Gulfstream Park to spoil the champion’s 3-year-old debut and put the first blemish on her previously spotless record.

The Rick Violette-trained Dream Rush broke in front under jockey Rafael Bejarano while Dreaming of Anna stumbled at the start. The champion and jockey Rene Douglas rallied on the turn to challenge on the turn, but Dream Rush quickly drew away to win by 3 ½-lengths over the late running You Asked. Dreaming of Anna, an odds-on favorite at 2-5, was another 3 ¼-lengths back in third as she suffered her first setback after she opened her career with four victories capped by a win in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) at Churchill Downs.

Dream Rush covered 6 ½-furlongs in 1:16.60 as she scored her first stakes victory.

Also on Saturday’s Gulfstream Park program, Edward P. Evans’ homebred turf specialist Christmas Kid made a successful transition to dirt with a four-length victory over High Again in the $150,000 Davona Dale at one mile. Rene Douglas rode Chrismas Kid, a daughter of Lemon Drop Kid who won the Tropical Park Oaks last out at Calder, and extended her winning streak for trainer Jimmy Jerkens to three races, but the Davona Dale was her first win on dirt.

Lisa M finished third as the winner covered a mile in 1:37.34.

Favored Meditations was pulled up during the race and suffered a non-life threatening – but career-ending – fracture to her left front cannon bone. The Ralph Ziadie-trained filly is scheduled for surgery in Ocala, Fla. to repair the injury, and owner Lucy Bassett decided to retire the winner of Calder’s Three Ring Stakes to her broodmare band.

“She was a very special filly and showed what she could do,” said Ziadie. “This is one of the tougher losses I’ve ever had.”

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens said that Christmas Kid would likely remain on the Gulfstream dirt and run in the 1 1/8-mile Bonnie Miss (GII) on March 10.

CENTRAL/APPEALING ZOPHIE COASTS IN SILVERBULLETDAY – Heiligbrodt Racing’s Appealing Zophie, winner of Saratoga’s Spinaway (GI) at two, snapped a three-race losing streak as she rolled to a front-running 4 ¼-length win in Saturday’s $200,000 Silverbulletday (GIII) at the Fair Grounds.

The Steve Asmussen-trained daughter of Successful Appeal set slow early fractions and drew away when challenged by runner-up Total to complete the 1 1/16-miles in 1:44.13.

The 9-5 favorite is trained by Steve Asmussen and was ridden by John Velazquez. Letellier Memorial winner Total held for second over Get Ready Bertie, who finished 1 ¾-lengths behind the runner-up and a nose in front of fourth-place finisher Dawn for Dawn.

The victory was the first for Appealing Zophie since her win in the Spinaway. The losing streak included a sixth-place finish to Bel Air Beauty in Keeneland’s Alcibiades (GII), a fourth-place run behind 2-year-old filly champion Dreaming of Anna in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI), and a second-place finish behind Miss Atlantic City in the December’s Delta Jackpot at Louisiana’s Delta Downs.

“She’s a good filly,” Asmussen said. “She’s a Grade I winner. I’m proud of her.”

Asmussen’s win in the Silverbulletday was his second in three years. He saddle eventual Kentucky Oaks winner Summerly to take the Fair Grounds’ race in 2005. The top three finishers in the Silverbulletday could meet again in the Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks on March 10.

EAST/BARE DANCER TAKES LAUREL’S WIDE COUNTRY – Darlene Bilinski’s Bare Dancer rallied from far back to collar favored Laila’s Punch with an eighth of a mile to go and edged clear for a half-length victory in Saturday’s $90,000 Wide Country Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Maryland’s Laurel Park.

Dyn Parnell was aboard Bare Dancer, who is trained by Gary Contessa and covered the mile distance in 1:40.08.

FEB. 17 DEADLINE FOR KENTUCKY OAKS NOMINATIONS NEAR – Owners and trainers who wish to nominate 3-year-old fillies to the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks on May 4 must do so by mail, telephone or fax before midnight (EST) on Saturday, Feb. 17.

Nominations to the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies must be accompanied by a payment of $100. Churchill Downs will accept supplemental nominations to the Kentucky Oaks, but that would require a fee of $25,000 (5% of the purse) on the day of entry, Tuesday, May 1.

The Kentucky Oaks field is limited to 14 starters, with preference given to the fillies with the highest total earnings in graded stakes races.

Arindel Farm’s Wait A While, who earned an Eclipse Award as the champion filly of 2006, finished fourth to Lemons Forever in last year’s Oaks and was moved up to third via the disqualification of Bushfire, the original third-place finisher.

Other 3-year-old filly champions to compete in the Kentucky Oaks in the past decade include 2004 Oaks winner Ashado; 2003 winner Bird Town; 2002 winner Farda Amiga; 1999 winner Silverbulletday; and Banshee Breeze, the 1998 champion who finished second to Keeper Hill in the Oaks.

Churchill Downs is also accepting nominations for the Grade I Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, the Kentucky Derby Day fixture that will carry a record purse of $500,000-added for its 2006 renewal. The 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up also requires a payment of $100 to nominate. Supplemental entries will be accepted with a fee of $25,000 on the day of entry, on Wednesday, May 2.

Information is available by calling Churchill Downs Racing at (502) 636-4470 or horsemen may nominate by fax at (502) 636-4479.

FIRST OAKS FUTURE BET POOL ATTRACTS WAGERING OF $66,206 – The first of three pools in Churchill Downs’ 2007 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager attracted total betting of $66,206 during its four-day run that ended on Sunday, Feb. 11.

The mutuel field, which included all 3-year-old fillies other than the 21 remaining betting interest in the pool, closed as a 3-1 favorite and narrowly edged Las Virgenes winner Rags to Riches (7-2). Juvenile filly champion Dreaming of Anna closed as the 7-1 third choice

<< Back to News