Oaks Updates

DEADLINE FOR KENTUCKY OAKS NOMINATIONS SET FOR MIDNIGHT SATURDAY – The deadline for nominating 3-year-old fillies to 133^rd running of the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) on May 4 is quickly approaching.  Those nominations must be made 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 those nominations must be made at the time of entry for the Oaks on Tuesday, May 1, and would require a fee of $25,000 (5% of the purse).

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

The race has long been a high-profile event for 3-year-old fillies, but has arguably grown to become America’s most important and coveted prize in that division.  The Oaks, held on the eve of the $2 million guaranteed Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (GI), annually attracts attendance in excess of 100,000.  The 2005 renewal drew a crowd of 108,065 – the second-largest attendance figure in Oaks history.

Oaks winners and major contenders have dominated the Eclipse Award competition that honors America’s top 3-year-old filly over the past decade.

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 renewal 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 during the past decade include Oaks winners Ashado (2004), Bird Town (2003), Farda Amiga (2002), and Silverbulletday (1999). Banshee Breeze, the 3-year-old filly champion of 1998, finished second to Keeper Hill in that year’s Kentucky 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 2007 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.

SOUTHEAST/ZITO’S AUTOBAHN GIRL HEADS TAMPA’S SUNCOAST – Live Oak Plantation’s homebred Autobahn Girl is favored to extend her winning streak to three races as she faces nine 3-year-old fillies in Saturday’s $75,000 Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. 

The race, run at the distance of about one mile, is the final prep for the $200,000 Florida Oaks on March 17, the track’s top race for 3-year-old fillies.

Autobahn Girl, a daughter of A.P. Indy trained by Nick Zito, scored an easy four-length victory in a one-mile allowance race at Gulfstream Park in her only start of the year.  That was her third win in her last four races.  Prior to that she won allowance races at Churchill Downs and Belmont Park that were sandwiched around a loss to the stakes-winning Get Ready Bertie in an allowance race over a “sloppy” surface at the Louisville track.

Zito’s filly has a career record of 3-3-0 in six races and has earned $103,884.

Other major contenders for the Suncoast include J. Mack Robinson’s Miss Tizzynow (4-1), a Graham Motion-trained daughter of Tiznow who carries a two-race winning streak and jockey Fernando Jara in the race; Stanton Powell’s S P Indy (9-2), a Bill Mott-trained daughter of Point Given who finished third to Miss Tizzynow in her most recent outing at Gulfstream Park; and My Golden Quest (5-1), a Todd Pletcher trainee to be ridden by John Velazquez.

WEST/LAS VIRGENES FILLIES LOOK FOR OPTIONS – In the aftermath of the impressive victory by Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor’s Rags to Riches in her stakes debut in last week’s Las Virgenes (GI) at Santa Anita, some of the fillies that finished behind the daughter of A.P. Indy are not eager for a rematch anytime soon.

Mike McCarthy, the assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher who handles the two-time Eclipse Award winner’s West Coast stable, said that Rags to Riches  came out of her victory in good shape.  But McCarthy had no information on a possible next start for the stable’s new star.

Third-place finisher Runway Rosie remains a Kentucky Oaks candidate and trainer David Hofmans said she would be pointed to the $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks (GI) on March 11.

“We’ll try her back in the Santa Anita Oaks,” Hoffmans told the Daily Racing Form, “and hope that Rags to Riches runs in the Santa Anita Derby.”

But two other fillies that chased Rags to Riches are looking for other options.

Trainer John Sadler said that Santa Ynez (GII) winner Jump On In, last in the Las Virgenes, would get a break and return to one-turn distances.  Hollywood Starlet (GI) winner Romance Is Diane will be switched to turf for her next start, according to trainer Mike Mitchell. 

CENTRAL/APPEALING ZOPHIE TARGETS FAIR GROUNDS OAKS – Heiligbrodt Racing’s Appealing Zophie, an easy front-running winner of last week’s Silverbulletday at the Fair Grounds, emerged from her race in good shape and trainer Steve Asmussen said she would be pointed toward the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (GII) on March 10.

The daughter of Successful Appeal snapped a three-race losing streak with the victory, her first race since an upset loss in the Delta Princess at Delta Downs in early December.

“The filly handled wonderfully over the winter,” Asmussen said. “She had some nice long works in her. She’s a talented horse who was going good.”

Appealing Zophie won last year’s Spinaway (GI) at Saratoga and finished fourth to champion Dreaming of Anna in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) at Churchill Downs. 

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