An Amble, Not a Ramble, With the Gals

It’s the old Okie-Doak. An amble, ‘stead of a ramble, through the filly ranks:

● Little doubt that Proud Spell is the horse to beat and her morning line number of 5-2 seems about right for the (Eight Belle-less) Kentucky Oaks. Nonetheless, 5 seems like a nice digit when you put a -1 after it for Bsharpsonata, a running machine who may only need a well-timed ride to be very ‘there’ when the lilies are distributed. Been watching her on the backstretch for the past several days and she’s something to see. Besides being decked out in her electric tangerine four-wraps for her gallops in the morning, she also sports a power source you love to see in a racehorse – a J-Lo rear end.

● The folks with Rasierra are doing what you call ‘taking a swing.’ They supplement her to the race for $25k and see their morning line hung at twice that number. Ouch. Being as how she has one win in seven starts – a 4 ½-furlong dash at Prairie Meadows – you can sort of understand why. But hope springs eternal and the bay missy might get a call or two early on, which might wind up affecting the early-pace gals.

● Don’t know if she’s good enough, but have no doubt she’s game enough. Golden Doc A will be coming at the end of the nine-furlong Oaks. Say again: she will be coming at the end of the Oaks. She doesn’t know any other way and she’s been training like a tango dancer getting ready for Saturday night in San Juan.

● Of the 11 likely runners in the Oaks, eight of their jocks will have a shot at coming back the next day and pulling off the oh-so-sweet Oaks-Derby double. They would be Kent Desormeaux (Golden Doc A – Big Brown), Julien Leparoux (Absolutely Cindy—Cool Coal Man), Robby Albarado (Awesome Chic – Z Fortune), Eibar Coa (Elusive Lady – Tale of Ekati), Rafael Bejarano (Country Star – Anak Nakal), Gabriel Saez (Proud Spell – Eight Belles), Calvin Borel (A To The Croft – Denis of Cork) and Edgar Prado (Pure Clan – Adriano).

● Only one trainer has the possibility of pulling off the O – D double --- Larry Jones with Pure Spell, the filly in the filly race and Eight Belles, the filly in the colt race.

● The last Oaks – Derby double by a jock: Jerry Baily in 1993 with Dispute and Sea Hero. For a trainer it was Ben Jones in 1952 with Real Delight and Hill Gail.

● Only one trainer in the Oaks lineup – Robert Frankel (Country Star) – has won the race before. In fact, he’s won it twice (Flute in 2001 and Keeper Hill in 1998). Maybe that’s why there’s only one trainer in the Oaks lineup who is in the Hall of Fame. Yes, it's him.

● With that nasty weather forecast ranging up on the Friday card, it may be noteworthy to note that the following Oaks’ fillies have won on an “off” track: Bsharpsonata and Little Belle.

● And though Proud Spell hasn’t been a winner on the “off,” her second in the muck at Monmouth behind run-off winner Indian Blessing in the Juvenile Fillies wasn’t half bad.

● You might do well to bet a Cajun in the Oaks: Kent Desormeaux (Golden Doc A), Robby Albarado (Awesome Chic), Jamie Theriot (Rasierra) and Calvin Borel (A To The Croft) know just what you mean when you say “You got to suck the heads on ‘dem der crawfish.”