Kentucky Oaks 134 Update: March 10th

TOP STORIES:
- Proud Spell Turns Tables in FG Oaks
- Ariege Edges Golden Doc A in SA Oaks
- Armonk Much the Best in Wide Country
- Showdown Looms in Honeybee

SOUTH/PROUD SPELL DEALS INDIAN BLESSING FIRST LOSS IN FAIR GROUNDS OAKS – Brereton Jones’ Proud Spell turned the tables on her archrival, Hal and Patti Earnhardt’s champion Indian Blessing, by powering away to a 2 ¼-length victory Saturday in the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (Grade II) at the New Orleans Fair Grounds.

Trained by Larry Jones and ridden by Gabriel Saez, Proud Spell covered the mile and a sixteenth over a track labeled “fast” in 1:44.01 to improve her record to 4-2-0 in six starts and hike her earnings to $888,770. Proud Spell is a homebred by Proud Citizen out of the Langfuhr mare Pacific Spell.

The victory solidified Proud Spell’s status as a major contender for the 134th running of the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (GI) at Churchill Downs on May 2.

Indian Blessing had defeated Proud Spell the only two times they had met, first in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) last October at Monmouth Park and in the Feb. 9 Silverbulletday (GIII) at Fair Grounds. Unlike the first two meetings when Indian Blessing opened a huge early advantage, this time Saez kept Proud Spell no further than two lengths back.

Indian Blessing carved out fractions of :24.53, :48.17 and 1:12.80. Ridden by Garrett Gomez, Indian Blessing did not yield the advantage until the eighth pole when Proud Spell swooped past en route to victory. It was another 11 ½ lengths back to Acacia in third with Wisconsin Lady completing the field another 9 ¼ lengths back.

“I’m tickled to death … Gabriel had her in the perfect spot,” Jones said. “I’ll look at the (Grade I) Ashland (on April 5 at Keeneland as her next start), but we’ll see how she comes out.”

Gomez offered no excuses for Indian Blessing, who suffered her first defeat in six starts.

“I had a perfect trip. I was actually happy having (Proud Spell) chasing me,” Gomez said. “She finished really well. She just got beat. Even champions get beat.”

Trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday that he may consider skipping the Kentucky Oaks with Indian Blessing after her setback at Fair Grounds.

“I think I might just freshen her up,” Baffert said. “I don’t know about the Kentucky Oaks. I might not run her. We learned something in the Fair Grounds Oaks. Garrett tried to get her to slow down, but she was fighting him. We realized that you’ve got to just let her go or she’s not going to give you that extra kick. We learned that. (But) she’s just fast. Her weapon is to run ‘em off their feet and just separate herself and let them come get her.”

Proud Spell’s victory shook up the wagering in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager that closed Sunday night.

Indian Blessing closed as the 4-1 favorite in Pool 1 that closed Feb. 10 and opened Thursday as the 4-1 favorite in Pool 2.  However, when betting closed Sunday, Indian Blessing was 8-1 and Proud Spell, who opened as the co-second choice at 6-1, remained the second choice at 6-1. Proud Spell closed as the fourth choice at 8-1 in Pool 1.

WEST/ARIEGE THRIVES ON SYNTHETIC IN SANTA ANITA OAKS – IEAH Stables and Pegasus Holding Group Stables’ Ariege, making her first start on a surface other than grass, held off a fast-closing Golden Doc A by a half-length to win Saturday’s $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks (GI) at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Corey Nakatani and trained by two-time Kentucky Oaks winning conditioner Bobby Frankel, Ariege covered the mile and a sixteenth in 1:42.73 and increased her record in six races to 2-1-1 with earnings of $230,828. Ariege is a daughter of Doneraile Court out of the Caerleon mare Kostroma, who was a Grade I stakes winner.

Michael Bello’s Lovely Isle, also trained by Frankel, set the pace, posting fractions of :23.58, :47.89 and 1:12.14 as Ariege and Golden Doc A raced at the back of the field of nine.  Lovely Isle yielded the lead turning for home to Michael House’s Final Fling, who opened a daylight lead until she was collared at the eighth pole by Ariege. Ariege had enough left to fend off the furious late charge on the far outside by Ron McCauley’s Golden Doc A, who went off as the 3-2 favorite.

“We wanted to try her on this track,” Frankel said. “Grass horses are running good on it. She’s a nice filly. I just told Corey to let her settle and come with one run.”

Golden Doc A was 3 ¼ lengths clear of Final Fling in an effort that did not disappoint trainer Barry Abrams.

“It was the best race of her career,” Abrams said.  “Any time you can go five wide and come the last quarter like she did with those fractions, you have to be proud of her.”

Golden Doc A was one of three fillies in the race that were individual betting interests in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager. She closed Sunday night at odds of 27-1. Final Fling closed at 77-1 while Lovely Isle, who faded to seventh, closed at 108-1.

EAST/ARMONK GETS FIRST STAKES WIN IN WIDE COUNTRY – Kentucky Oaks nominee Armonk put away pace-setting Kosmo’s Buddy early in the stretch and had plenty left in the tank to hold off Hartigan to win Saturday’s $52,800 Wide Country Stakes at Laurel Park by 2 ½ lengths.

Owned by Jeff Singer, Armonk covered the seven furlongs over a sealed sloppy track in 1:26.83 to prevail as the 11-10 favorite. Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, Armonk improved her record to 3-2-2 in eight races and increased her earnings to $189,155.

“They told me this morning to run my own race,” said winning rider Julien Pimental, who was ridden the daughter of Mizzen Mast for the first time. “I wasn’t worried about that horse (Kosmo’s Buddy). I tried to get my horse to relax and make one run.”

Fitzhugh LLC’s Hartigan was 3 ¼ lengths clear of Arnold and Adam Smolen’s Kosmo’s Buddy for second. Morris Bailey’s previously undefeated Saki to Me, the other Kentucky Oaks nominee in the field of seven, was a neck back in fourth.

LOOKING AHEAD/HONEYBEE FIGURES TO MATCH PURE CLAN, EIGHT BELLES – A showdown between two rising stars on the road to the Kentucky Oaks looms on Sunday at Oaklawn Park as Lewis Lakin and IEAH Stables’ undefeated Pure Clan and Fox Hill Farms’ Eight Belles are scheduled to meet in the $100,000 Honeybee Stakes (GIII) at a mile and a sixteenth.

Pure Clan has been away from the races since capping a perfect four-race campaign in 2007 with a victory in the $250,000-added Golden Rod (GII) at Churchill Downs. Trained by Bob Holthus, the Pure Prize filly also won the Pocahontas (GIII) last fall at Churchill Downs.

Eight Belles, a daughter of Unbridled’s Song trained by Larry Jones, has won her two most recent starts by a combined 28 ½ lengths.  The most recent was a 13 ½-length score in the second division of the one-mile Martha Washington Stakes on Feb. 17 at Oaklawn Park.

Pure Clan and Eight Belles were individual betting interests in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, which concluded on Sunday.  Pure Clan closed as the 7-1 third choice and Eight Belles was the co-fourth choice at 8-1. Also expected to compete in the Honeybee is Carl Pollard’s Kadira, who closed at 159-1 in Pool 2.

Other graded stakes next weekend that could impact the Kentucky Oaks picture are Saturday’s $200,000 Florida Oaks (GIII) at a mile and a sixteenth at Tampa Bay Downs and the $100,000-added Cicada (GIII) at six furlongs at Aqueduct.  The Florida Oaks could feature the Melnyk Racing Stables’ Vaulcluse, who closed at 23-1 in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.  On Sunday, the non-graded $200,000 WinStar Sunland Park Oaks will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth at Sunland Park.

COUNTRY STAR NARROWLY FAVORED OVER PROUD SPELL IN POOL 2 OF 2008 KENTUCKY OAKS FUTURE WAGER – The surprise defeat of reigning 2-year-old filly champion and previously unbeaten Indian Blessing in Saturday’s $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks threw Pool 2 of Churchill Downs’ 2008 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager wide open, and the resulting scramble saw Country Star and Proud Spell rise to the top when betting on contenders for the 134th Kentucky Oaks (GI) in the four-day pool that concluded on Sunday.

Stonerside Stable’s Country Star was the 5-1 favorite at the conclusion of Pool 2, although trainer Bobby Frankel’s winner of the Darley Alcibiades (GI) and Hollywood Starlet (GI) has yet to race in 2008.  The daughter of Empire Maker edged Brereton C. Jones’ Proud Spell, who became the 6-1 second choice when she avenged a pair of earlier losses to Indian Blessing with her upset victory over the champion for trainer and Kentucky native J. Larry Jones at Fair Grounds.

There was little to separate the top pair from several of the 23 wagering interests in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.  IEAH Stable and Lewis Lakin’s unbeaten Pure Clan was the close third choice a 7-1.  She was followed closely at 8-1 by Eight Belles, a 13 ½-length winner of a division of Oaklawn Park’s Martha Washington, and the Bob Baffert-trained Indian Blessing.  The mutuel field, which included all 3-year-old fillies other than the 22 individual betting interests remaining in the pool, closed at 9-1.  The roster of betting interests in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager was reduced to 23 when wagering was suspended on Tizaqueena (#22) on Friday.

A total of $62,503 was wagered during the four-day pool, the largest total for Pool 2 in the five years since the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager went to its three-pool format.  The year’s third and final Kentucky Oaks Future Wager Pool is set for April 3-6.

More information and final odds from both pools in Churchill Downs’ 2008 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager can be found on the Web at www.kentuckyoaks.com, the official event Web site of the Kentucky Oaks.