Oaks Updates

WEST/RAGS TO RICHES DOMINANT IN OAKS ROMP, COULD FACE MALES - An emphatic victory in Sunday's $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks (Grade I) left little doubt about which horse sits atop the ranks of contenders for the 133rd running of the Kentucky Oaks (GI) at Churchill Downs on May 4.

That filly is clearly Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor's Rags to Riches, whose easy victory as the 2-5 favorite in the Santa Anita Oaks solidified her standing as the nation's top 3-year-old filly. The question that remains open is whether trainer Todd Pletcher will continue to point the daughter of A.P. Indy toward the Oaks or opt for run against males in the $2 million guaranteed Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (GI) on the day after the Oaks.

Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor's $1.9 million yearling sales purchase made that seven-figure price tag look like a bargain when she romped to her easy 5 ½-length victory over Silver Swallow. Cash Included finished third in a field reduced to five with the scratches of longshots Quickandquietqueen and Slew O'Platinum.

Rags to Riches, who had taken the Las Virgenes (GI) at Santa Anita in her stakes debut in her previous start, grabbed the lead under jockey Garrett Gomez as the field turned for home and widened her margin in the run to the wire. The chestnut filly's victory margin in the Oaks was the largest since Sharp Cat won the race by the same margin in 1997 and she covered the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:42.84.
After her dominating performance against the best of her gender on the West Coast, both Pletcher and Tabor left open the option that Rags to Riches could take on the boys in the near future - perhaps in the Santa Anita Derby (GI) on April 7. A victory in that race could convince her connections that Rags to Riches deserves the chance to emulate Winning Colors, who dominated males in the Santa Anita Derby and held on to edge Forty Niner in the Kentucky Derby a month later. Winning Colors was the most recent of only three fillies to win the Kentucky Derby, with Genuine Risk (1980) and Regret (1915) being the others.

"The thought has to cross through your mind," Tabor said. "She'll probably stick with the girls, but at the end of the day, you never know."

"When we first started out the plan was the Las Virgenes, the Santa Anita Oaks, and the Kentucky Oaks," said Pletcher. "But when you get a filly that's bred like this - that obviously the further they go, the better she's supposed to get - it makes you think about other possibilities."

The Santa Anita Oaks marked the third consecutive victory for Rags to Riches, who suffered her only loss in a fourth-place finish in her debut in June at Churchill Downs. Sunday's victory boosted her career earnings to $360,100.

CENTRAL/MISTICAL PLAN ROMPS FOR O'NEILL IN FAIR GROUNDS OAKS - Trainer Doug O'Neill has a deep group of contenders for the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands in his talented stable, and now has the potential for an enormous weekend at Churchill Downs in early May as he has a major contender for the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks in his care.

O'Neill saddled J. Paul Reddam's Mistical Plan to score a front-running 3 ¼-length victory over Starlight Stable and Donald Lucarelli's favored Octave in Saturday's $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks. Whatdreamsrmadeof finished third.
The California-bred daughter of Game Plan was coming off a sharp win in the Sunshine Millions Oaks at Santa Anita and was never threatened as she pulled away to a comfortable win under jockey Corey Nakatani.

"She's run some clunkers going two turns, but we're not done yet," said Nakatani. "She was getting some pressure, but my main goal was to let her be comfortable. We were loaded for bear."

Mistical Plan, who had won the Sunshine Million Oaks at Santa Anita in her previous start, covered 1 1/16-miles over a "fast" track in 1:44.02. She won for the fourth time in eight starts and has now earned $475,765.

Heiligbrodt Racing Stable's Appealing Zophie, winner of the Silverbulletday (GIII) and the morning line favorite for the Fair Grounds Oaks, chased Mistical Plan in the early going, but faded to finish last in the field of eight.

The last two winners of the Fair Grounds Oaks went on to win the Kentucky Oaks as Ashado (2004) and Summerly (2005) completed those sweeps. The Fair Grounds Oaks was not run in 2006.

SOUTHEAST/HIGH AGAIN TAKES BONNIE MISS FOR MOTT, FOREVER TOGETHER WINS FORWARD GAL - Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott long ago set a record for career victories at Churchill Downs that figures to be standing as long as the track's fabled Twin Spires, but that win total does not include success in either of the track's biggest races, the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. But Mott appears to have a serious contender for this year's 133rd renewal of the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks in Zayat Stable's High Again, who turned the tables on rival Christmas Kid to win Saturday's $150,000 Bonnie Miss at Gulfstream Park.

High Again reversed the result of her meeting with Christmas Kid in the one-mile Davona Dale (GII) on Feb. 10, when the latter rolled to a four-length win. It looked like the result might be the same in Saturday's meeting as Christmas Kid rolled past High Again to grab the lead on the far turn, but the Mott-trained daughter of High Yield rallied in the stretch to reclaim the lead and pull away to a 1 ½-length win under jockey Cornelio Velasquez. Fee Fi Fo Fum finished third.

The win prompted Mott to start thinking about larger targets, like Keeneland's Ashland Stakes (GI) and the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks on May 4 at Churchill Downs.

"Way back here in the back of my head, I've been thinking about it - but they have to show you a race like this before you get serious about it," Mott said. "I think she earned her way into that kind of race now."

High Again covered 1 1/8-miles over a fast track in 1:50.80 as she notched her third victory in seven races. She has earned $179,350.

Earlier on the Gulfstream Park card, Augustin Stable's Forever Together kept her perfect record intact when she scored a two-length victory over favored Silver Knockers in the $150,000 Forward Gal Stakes (GII).

The roan/gray daughter of Belong to Me is trained by steeplechase training ace Jonathan Sheppard and covered 7 ½-furlongs under jockey Elvis Trujillo in 1:22.60. She won her racing debut last fall at Delaware Park and scored a victory in the OBS Sprint at the Ocala Sales Center on Feb. 12 in her previous efforts.

You Asked For It finished third in the field of seven.

The Forward Gal marked an inauspicious 3-year-old debut for Phipps Stable's Boca Grande, the Shug McGaughey-trained winner of the Demoiselle (GII) at Aqueduct in November. She bobbled at the start of Saturday's race and failed to contend as she finished sixth and was beaten by 28 ¾-lengths.

RAGS TO RICHES FAVORED IN POOL 2 OF KENTUCKY OAKS FUTURE WAGER - Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor's Rags to Riches, the Todd Pletcher-trained winner of the Las Virgenes (Grade I) and a dominating winner in Sunday's Santa Anita Oaks (GI), stood as a solid favorite in Pool 2 of Churchill Downs' 2007 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager ("KOFW") when wagering on the four-day pool concluded on Sunday evening.

The daughter of A.P. Indy stood as the solid 4-1 choice of racing fans across the United States and Canada, although betting in the March 8-11 pool closed roughly an hour before she was scheduled to compete in the $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks.
The mutuel field, the betting interest that includes all 3-year-old fillies other than the 23 individual horses in Pool 2, closed as the second choice at 7-1. Frank Calabrese's 2006 juvenile filly champion Dreaming of Anna was the 9-1 third choice, and was followed by Fair Grounds Oaks (GII) runner-up Octave at 11-1.

Wagering on the second of three 2007 Kentucky Oaks Future pools at racetracks and off-track betting outlets throughout the United States and Canada totaled $55,840 when betting on the March 8-11 pool concluded on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. (EDT). The total was the largest in Pool 2 history since the Oaks Future bet adopted its three-pool format in 2004

The third and final pool of the 2007 Kentucky Oaks Future wager is set for April 12-15. The 133rd running of the Kentucky Oaks (GI) is scheduled for Friday, May 4.
Information and real time odds on the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager are available at the official event Web site at www.kentuckyoaks.com.

UPCOMING KENTUCKY OAKS PREP RACES
March 16 - $100,000 Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park (1 1/16-miles)
March 17 -- $100,000 Cicada (GIII) at Aqueduct (six furlongs)
$200,000 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs (1 1/16-miles)
March 18 - $200,000 WinStar Sunland Park Oaks at Sunland Park (1 1/16-mile)

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