Todd Pletcher

Dan Shapiro
East Coast

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Rags to Riches Facing Wide Trip Again

Rags to Riches drew the 11 post this morning in a full field of 14 fillies for the Kentucky Oaks.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Sealy Hill Gets Feel For Churchill Downs Track; Autobahn Girl Works

Melnyk Racing Stables’ Sealy Hill made her first venture over the main track at Churchill Downs Monday morning, galloping a mile and a half under Julia Brimo. The Point Given filly had vanned over from Keeneland Sunday morning.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Capacity Field Possible for Oaks 133

Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor's Rags to Riches looms as a heavy favorite for the 133rd running of the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) at Churchill Downs on May 4, but her presence does not appear to be scaring many opponents away from the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Rags To Riches An Overwhelming Favorite As Final Pool Of '07 Kentucky Oaks Future Bet Ends Record Run

Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor's Rags to Riches, the winner of the Las Virgenes (Grade I) and Santa Anita Oaks (GI) at Santa Anita, closed as the strongest favorite in the history of Churchill Downs' Kentucky Oaks Future Wager ("KOFW") as wagering in the bet's third and final pool of 2007 drew to a close early Sunday evening.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Boca Grande Looks To Bounce Back In Comely;Street Sounds Takes Beaumont;Hollendorfer Has Four In Bay Meadows BC Oaks

  EAST/BOCA GRANDE LOOKS TO REBOUND IN AQUEDUCT'S COMELY - Phipps Stable's Boca Grande will attempt to bounce back from disappointing run in her season debut when she faces eight rivals in Saturday's $150,000 Comely (GII) at Aqueduct.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Rags To Riches Favored Over High Heels, Octave On Opening Day Of Final Oaks Future Pool

Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor's Rags to Riches, the Todd Pletcher-trained winner of the Las Virgenes (Grade I) and Santa Anita Oaks (GI) at Santa Anita, stood as a solid favorite following the first day of Pool 3 of Churchill Downs' 2007 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager ("KOFW") as the pool opened its four-day run on Thursday.

Dan Shapiro
East Coast

Friday, April 13, 2007

Which Boca Grande Will Show Up?

In winning last year's Demoiselle at Aqueduct, Boca Grande stamped herself as a major contender for this year's Kentucky Oaks. I quickly placed her at number one in my Top 10 list.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Christmas Kid, High Heels Win; Rags To Riches Breezes At Hollywood

MIDWEST/CHRISTMAS KID WINS ASHLAND, HIGH HEELS ROLLS IN FANTASY - Rags to Riches is a two-time Grade I winner and the favorite for the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) on May 4 at Churchill Downs, but her record cannot rival the accomplishments of Edward P. Evans' homebred Christmas Kid.The daughter of Lemon Drop Kid held off a late charge by heavily favored Octave to win Saturday's $500,000-added Ashland Stakes (GI) at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. In doing so, the James Jerkens-trained 3-year-old filly earned her third stakes win of year and did so over her third different surface.

Friday, April 06, 2007

Mistical Plan, Octave In Ashland Rematch; Cotton Blossom Heads Fantasy

MIDWEST/MISTICAL PLAN, OCTAVE HAVE FAIR GROUNDS OAKS REMATCH IN ASHLAND - J. Paul Reddam's Mistical Plan and Starlight Stable and Paul Lucarelli's Octave, the 1-2 finishers in the recent Fair Grounds Oaks (Grade II), are set for an intriguing rematch in Saturday's 70th running of the $500,000 Ashland Stakes (GI) at Keeneland.

Toby Callet
South

Friday, April 06, 2007

The Ashland Stakes

The Ashland Stakes, which is known for being the final legitimate Kentucky prep for the Oaks, features four fillies that wintered in South Florida.

Toby Callet
South

Monday, March 19, 2007

Florida Oaks Recap

The 24th running of The Florida Oaks was another stepping stone to the May 4 Kentucky Oaks for the Todd Pletcher trainee COTTON BLOSSOM.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Lukas' Time's Mistress Enters Oaks Picture With Honeybee Win;Autobahn Girl Meets Cotton Blossom At Tampa

  CENTRAL/LUKAS ENTERS OAKS PICTURE AS TIME’S MISTRESS TAKES HONEYBEE – Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who has won the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) four times, but was on the outside looking in on this year’s Oaks scene until Charles Kidder’s Time’s Mistress scored an upset victory in Friday’s $100,000 Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Toby Callet
South

Friday, March 16, 2007

The Florida Oaks

The 24th running of The Florida Oaks brings a rather diverse group of eight fillies together to complete for the $120,000 first prize. Here's a brief commentary on each filly.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Rags To Riches Rolls In Santa Anita Oaks, Could Faces Males; O'Neill's Mistical Plan, Mott's High Again Win

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.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Champion Dreaming Of Anna 0-for-2 In '07; Octave To Fair Grounds Oaks

SOUTHEAST/AUDACIOUS CHLOE UPSETS CHAMP DREAMING OF ANNA - The unbeaten record of reigning juvenile filly champion Dreaming of Anna was already history, and now her record on grass has its first blemish.

Toby Callet
South

Monday, February 26, 2007

Gaily Gaily Stakes Recap

The betting public "honed in" on DREAMING OF ANNA and AUDACIOUS CHLOE respectively and for the most part were correct.

Toby Callet
South

Saturday, February 24, 2007

The Gaily Gaily Stakes

Three-year-old fillies take the stage on Sunday afternoon in The Gaily Gaily Stakes. Last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Filly winner, DREAMING OF ANNA (RAHY), wheels back in just 15 days following a less than representative effort in The Grade III Old Hat Stakes.

Mac McBride
West Coast

Monday, February 12, 2007

Take 2 -- Mac's Oaks Blog

Take 2 – Kentucky Oaks Blog