Kentucky Oaks Friday Features Six Graded Stakes

—May 3— The Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Friday caps a day featuring five other graded stakes races, beginning with the Grade 2 Eight Belles Stakes, also for three-year-old fillies. Each race is discussed below.

The Eight Belles Stakes by Kentucky Trailer (Grade 2) 7 furlongs (dirt). Fast. Purse – $200,000. 3-year-olds. Fillies.

4 – Talk Veuve to Me Her two starts this year have been unimpressive. The third favorite in the Fantasy Stakes, she chased Sassy Sienna through the early stages of the race before stopping. She was the second choice in the Sunland Park Oaks in her prior start and wound up a nose and a length removed from the place spot. Nonetheless, if she fires today, she has the talent to win here.

6 – Gas Station Sushi It’s hard to evaluate her performance in the Grade 3 Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland in April. Despite winning by three lengths at odds on, her competition was fair at best. She faces tougher competition today but she’s certainly shown that she is able to perform in the Blue Grass state.

5 – Take Charge Paula It’s been a roller coaster season for Kiaran McLaughlin’s filly, who began the year with a convincing one-and-a-quarter length score in the Grade 2 Forward Gal Stakes at Gulfstream Park. She followed that score with a clunker in the Davona Dale, finishing 13 lengths behind the winner, Fly So High. Good again in the Any Limit Stakes, she lead the field to the halfway point in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks before being passed by most of the field and finishing fifth. All that said, she has raced against some of the best horses in the division and deserves consideration here.

 

The La Troienne Stakes presented by Twinspires.com (Grade I) 1-1/16 Miles (dirt). Fast. Purse – $350,000. 4-year-olds and upward. Fillies and mares.

3 – Abel Tasman Despite not having started this season, Abel Tasman was a terrific sophomore with even better connections. Bob Baffert will have her ready and Mike Smith is in the midst of a dynamite season in which he ranks second (in a three way tie) nationally in wins while reaching the winners circle a whopping 31.7% of the time. Hard to discount.

6 – Martini Glass She finished second to longshot Farrell in the Grade 2 Azeri in her last start despite being favored. She was spectacular in her previous start, however, running away from the field in the Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream to win by nearly five lengths. The distance and surface figure to suit her.

1 – Salty Her race in the first division of the Grade 1 Madison Stakes was solid, despite the fact 7 furlongs may not be her best distance. Her win on the turf at Gulfstream over Holy Helena (4-3-1-0, $275,716) was plenty impressive, too, and her rider, Tyler Gaffalione, is on a bit of a roll now after a slow start. She figures to be a factor.

 

The Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes (Grade III) 5 furlongs (turf). Firm. Purse – $200,000. 3-year-olds and upward.

5 – Stormy Liberal Laid off since running a disappointing second in the Grade 2 Daytona Stakes at Santa Anita in late February, Stormy Liberal will look to rebound here. Despite its Grade 3 status, the Turf Sprint didn’t draw the best of fields. With any improvement, Stormy Liberal should have little trouble here.

6 – Will Call Will Call was part of a pack of hoses vying for the early lead in the Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland before Matrooh ran away and hid, burying the competition with a three-and-a-half length win. The going in that race was soft, however, and Will Call’s second place showing in the ungraded Colonel Powers Stakes over a firm course at the Fair Grounds resulted in second place finish. Look for a decent effort here.

4 – Vision Perfect After winning the Janus Stakes over this distance and surface in January at Gulfstream Park, Vision Perfect returned to finish last in the Silks Run Stakes over the same track, surface, and distance. On the plus side, he has run against some of the better turf sprinters in the division and figures to be competitive here.

 

The Alysheba Stakes by Sentient Jet (Grade II) 1-1/16 miles (dirt). Fast. Purse – $400,000. 4-year-olds and upward.

1 – Hoppertunity After finishing third behind Accelerate and Mubtaahij in the Grade 1 Big ’Cap at Santa Anita, Hopportunity returned to win the Grade 3 Tokyo City Stakes at a mile-and-a-half as the 6/5 favorite. He beat Mubtaahij in the race by a half-length. The Bob Baffert trainee will be cutting back in distance here but he is likely to benefit from the reduced distance. Flavien Prat (50-13-8-10, 26%), who has been hot as of late, will again be in the saddle.

6 – Good Samaritan Although he hasn’t faced the same level of competition as Hoppertunity, his race in the New Orleans Handicap was tremendous. Rushed from the gate by Rosario, he simply blew away a field that included Leofric, winning by four-and-a-half lengths. His second place effort in the Mineshaft Handicap was solid, too. Though beaten two lengths by the winner, Altissimo, Good Samaritan finished a length in front of the show horse, Lookin for Eight.

2 – Awesome Slew A winner at this distance in his debut in a $90,000 allowance race in February, Awesome Slew has spent the last two months facing some of the best sprinters in the nation. He finished last in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap and seven furlongs, but finished only four lengths behind the winner, Army Mule. He was better in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn, finishing fourth behind American Anthem. He’ll need to deliver his best effort here but he stands a chance!

 

The Edgewood Stakes presented by Forcht Bank (Grade III) 1-1/16 miles (turf). Firm. Purse – $200,000. 3-year-olds. Fillies.

4 – Rushing Fall She was third behind Dixie Moon and Thewayiam in her only start this year in the Grade 2 Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland. The course was yielding that day, which may have compromised her chances. Regardless, deserves a second chance.

3 – Got Stormy She began the year with an easy win in the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant Stakes at Gulfstream Park but appeared to be stuck in concrete in her encore, finishing next-to-last in the Herecomesthebride Stakes in early March. She returns after a change in riders to Tyler Gaffalione to face a beatable field in the Edgemore.

6 – Toinette After two decent efforts at about six-and-a-half furlongs on the downhill course at Santa Anita, trainer Neil Drysdale is banking that Toinette will be able to handle the extra two furlongs here. It appears to be a good bet. Flavian Prat will take over for Rafael Bejarano aboard the Scat Daddy filly.

 

The Longines Kentucky Oaks (Grade I). 1st Division. 1-1/8 miles (dirt). Fast. Purse – $750,000. 3-year-olds. Fillies.

4 – Monomoy Girl A lot went wrong in the Ashland Stakes. The overwhelming 1/20 favorite, Monomoy Girl was slow to break. By the time she found her stride She’s a Julie had opened up a huge lead. That said, her relentless pursuit and subsequent three-quarters-of-a-length loss was astounding. Before that loss, she was positively brilliant in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra. This division is slightly weaker than the second division. Monomoy Girl towers over the competition.

5 – Sassy Sienna / 3 – Chocolate Martini It’s hard to choose between these two. Sassy Sienna has been a solid performer. After a difficult debut sprinting, she won the ungraded Martha Washington Stakes, finished fourth in the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes and was a close second to Wonder Gadot in the Fantasy Stakes.Chocolate Martini faced a very good field in the Dixie Belle Stakes in her debut, finishing third ahead of Sassy Sienna. When stretched out to a mile-and-a-sixteenth she was even better, winning the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks by a neck over Eskimo Kisses, She’s a Julie, Wonder Gadot, Patrona Margarita and Classy Act. A definite contender.

2 – My Miss Lilly Mark Hennig’s filly has had a busy campaign in New York and Gulfstream. After her turf debut in the Ginger Brew Stakes at Gulfstream, she shipped to Aqueduct, where she beat a good field that included Shamrock Rose in the Busanda Stakes. She followed that effort by shipping back to Gulfstream Park and finishing second in the Grade 3 Forward Gal Stakes. Since that time, though, she’s clearly tailed off. She was last in the Busher, fourth in the Cicada and fifth in the Grade 2 Gazelle. She deserves a long vacation but her talent is enough to get her a piece of the purse here.

 

The Longines Kentucky Oaks (Grade I). 2nd Division. 1-1/8 miles (dirt). Fast. Purse – $750,000. 3-year-olds. Fillies.

5 – Midnight Bisou Take away her inexplicable effort in the Santa Ysabel and Midnight Bisou would be the unquestioned leader of the three-year-old filly division. She cruised to a two-and-a-half length win in her debut in the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes and, in her last start in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks, annihilated a crack field to win by five. The odds on choice.

4 – Wonder Gadot She has the distinction as the third best filly in either race. She followed a win in her debut in the Dixie Belle Stakes at Oaklawn January with back-to-back second place finishes in the Martha Washington and Rachel Alexandra Stakes. Her only out-of-the-money finish came in the Fair Grounds Oaks, when she finished fourth, beaten by under a length. She rebounded with a win in the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes, outlasting Sassy Sienna.

6 – Eskimo Kisses After two unimpressive starts to begin the season, Eskimo Kisses won the Honeybee, finished second by a neck in the Fair Grounds Oaks and placed third in the Ashland. She’s not the spectacular performer Midnight Bisou and Monomoy Girl are, but she’s solid.