Kentucky Oaks 134 Update: March 14th

TOP STORIES:

- Eight Belles, Pure Clan Top Honeybee
- Indian Blessing to Skip Kentucky Oaks
- Asmussen's Sky Mom Heads Sunland Oaks
- Elusive Lady Bids for Florida Oaks

SOUTH/EIGHT BELLES, PURE CLAN MEET IN HONEYBEE – Two of the most promising members of this year’s crop of 3-year-old fillies meet on Sunday in the $100,000-added Honeybee (Grade III) at Oaklawn Park.

Fox Hill Farm’s Eight Belles, a 13 ½-length winner of a division of Oaklawn’s Martha Washington Stakes, and Lewis G. Lakin, IEAH Stable and Pegasus Holdings’ unbeaten Pure Clan, winner of the $250,000-added Golden Rod (GII) at Churchill Downs, head a field of six entered in the 1 1/16-mile test for the Fantasy (GII), Oaklawn’s major prep for the Kentucky Oaks.

Eight Belles, a daughter of Unbridled’s Song trained by J. Larry Jones, closed as the 8-1 fourth choice in last week’s second pool of Churchill Downs’ 2008 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.  She will break from the outside post under jockey Ramon Dominguez, who will ride Eight Belles for the first time.  She had scored a 15-length victory in a Fair Grounds allowance in her start prior to the Martha Washington.

Pure Clan, a daughter of Pure Prize who is perfect in four races, will be ridden by regular jockey Julien Leparoux for veteran trainer Robert Holthus.  She was the 7-1 third choice in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.  She has not competed since her stretch-running victory in the 1 1/16-mile Golden Rod.  She also won the Pocahontas (GIII) on the Churchill Downs dirt after she opened her career with a pair of victories on turf.

Also in the field is Carl F. Pollard’s Kadira, who was awarded a victory in Oaklawn’s Dixie Belle on the disqualification of previously unbeaten Rated Fiesty.

WEST/INDIAN BLESSING TO SKIP KENTUCKY OAKS – The champion 2-year-old filly of 2007, Hal and Patti Earnhardt’s Indian Blessing is no longer being pointed toward the 134th running of the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (Grade I).

The upset loss by the previously unbeaten daughter of Indian Charlie to rival Proud Spell in last week’s $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (GII) convinced trainer Bob Baffert to give the daughter of Indian Charlie a break.  Baffert said Indian Blessing would return for a campaign of shorter races in the summer and fall.

“I wasn’t convinced (she wanted to run long),” Baffert told Daily Racing Form.  “She's quiet, but when that gate comes open, she grabs that bit and goes…I had to decide - do I want to run her a mile and one-eighth (in the Kentucky Oaks) and let her rip around there?”

The runner-up finish to Proud Spell snapped a string of five consecutive wins for Indian Blessing, who ended her 2-year-old campaign with a victory in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI).  She had won the Santa Ynez (GII) and Silverbulletday (GIII) before last week’s defeat.  She has earned $1,647,200 and Baffert said her long term goal would now by the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, which will be run this year at Santa Anita.

Meanwhile, trainer Bobby Frankel told the Daily Racing Form that future plans are uncertain for Santa Anita Oaks (GI) winner Ariege.  She edged favored Golden Doc A in her debut over Cushion Track after she had launched her career with five races on turf.

The Ashland Stakes (GI) at Keeneland is one possible spot, but Frankel has aimed Stonerside Stable’s two-time Grade I winner Country Star toward that race.

SKY MOM, GRACE ANATOMY IN SUNLAND OAKS – Heather Stark’s Sky Mom, winner of a division of Oaklawn Park’s Martha Washington for trainer Steve Asmussen, heads a field of seven 3-year-old fillies entered in Sunday’s $300,000 WinStar Sunland Park Oaks at New Mexico’s Sunland Park.

The daughter of Maria’s Mon also has a win in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile Fillies at Turfway Park on her resume.  She will break from the outside post under jockey Garrett Gomez.

The main opposition to Sky Mom could come from Grace Anatomy, an erratic daughter of Aldebaran who finished second to Country Star last fall in the Keeneland’s Darley Alcibiades and was second to Final Fling in the Santa Ysabel at Santa Anita.  The Doug O’Neill trainee finished fifth to Golden Doc A in Santa Anita’s Las Virgenes last time out.

Local hopes include a trio of starters from the barn of trainer Henry Dominguez.  R Charlie’s Angel and Snake Proof finished 1-2 in Sunland’s Island Fashion Stakes, while Bar Fly Blues is coming off an easy 5 ½-length maiden win in late January.

SOUTHEAST/ELUSIVE LADY HEADS FLORIDA OAKS – Gold Mark Farm’s Elusive Lady, winner of the Tempted (GIII) at Aqueduct, heads a field of eight 3-year-old fillies in Saturday’s $200,000 Florida Oaks (GIII) at Tampa Bay Downs.

The John Kimmel-trained daughter of Van Nistelrooy will be attempting to make amends in the 1 1/16-mile race for a poor effort behind Game Face in the Old Hat (GIII) at Gulfstream Park.  The gray filly ran into traffic problems early in the race and finished last after being eased by jockey Eibar Coa.

Cornelio Velasquez gets the Florida Oaks Mount on Elusive Lady, who is the only graded stakes winner in the field.

A major rival to Elusive Lady could be Calico Bay, a romping eight-length winner last time out in the filly division of the OBS Championship at Florida’s Ocala Training Center.  Owned by Herbert and Ione Elkins and trained by William Kaplan, the daughter of Three Wonders also won the My Dear Girl division of the Florida Stallion Stakes last fall at Calder Race Course.  She has earned $395,950 in winning three of eight lifetime starts.

Magdalena Racing’s My Baby Baby, runner-up to Vaulcluse in the recent Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay, is also in the field.  The Ken McPeek-trained daughter of Bernstein is the only member of the Florida Oaks field that was a wagering interest in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.  She ended the four-day Oaks Future Pool at odds of 70-1.

Other fillies in the field that have enjoyed local success include Awesome Chic, winner of the Gasparilla at Tampa Bay Downs, and Unfolding Wish, owned by the Kinsman Stable of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who took third in that race.

BACKSEAT RHYTHM TO BONNIE MISS – Paul Pompa Jr.’s Backseat Rhythm, third to Indian Blessing in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI), will make her next start in the Bonnie Miss (GII) on March 29 at Gulfstream Park.

Trainer Pat Reynolds had been looking toward a run in the Ashland (GI) over the Polytrack surface at Keeneland, but elected to stay in Florida for the final prep for a planned run in the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (GI) on May 2 at Churchill Downs.

Backseat Rhythm opened her 3-year-old campaign with a third-place finish in an allowance race on the turf at Gulfstream Park.

“We thought that the way she handles grass that going to Keeneland for the Ashland would be a good fit for her,” Reynolds told Daily Racing Form.  “But after giving it more consideration, we just decided to stay where we are and try the Bonnie Miss.  If she runs well then we’ll go on to the Kentucky Oaks.”

The daughter of El Corredor’s only victory in six races came on the turf in a Belmont Park maiden race, but she also finished a solid second to champion Indian Blessing on the dirt in Belmont Park’s Frizette (GI).