SA Oaks (Grade 1) (KYO)- $400.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
April 9, 2016

Minda had done her best work in Louisiana up until this point.   There was never any doubt that she knew how to get to the winners circle, having won six of her eleven career starts.  Among those wins were a total of five LA-bred stake races, but whenever she moved to open company at the stake level she was never able to get the job done.    That has changed, perhaps helped by the addition of lasix which occurred for the first time in her start leading up to this.  She won that race, while coming from behind.  Today, against much better company, Minda did not mind at all making that strategy pay off again.   In the win, she also got a great piece of riding by R J Albarado, in maneuvering the traffic to make it happen.  Winning trainer Royalty Racing can feel good now knowing that they are heading to CD for the KYO with this win!  It is the first win in this stake for both trainer and jockey.  The ending race time was 1:42.11, making it the second fastest edition of the race.  Congratulations to our winners!  Let’s look a little more at the result.

1st- 2- Minda (5/1)- Our eventual race winner out of Royalty Racing got the job done impressively today while coming from behind.    R J Albarado was more then happy to allow his filly to sit comfortably at the back of the pack and not be concerned with what was going on at the front.  At the top of the backstretch, she trailed by six lengths.   He began to search for the best lane for Minda as they moved into the final turn, and eventually some room would free up between Rock Out Loki and Command And Conquer.   Minda seized the opportunity, but at the top of the stretch she still had about four lengths to make up.   Albarado then moved her to inside of I Can Dance to prepare for the pass of that one and she would make it look easy.  With a half a furlong to go, she was only a length back and absolutely full of run.    After blowing by Heart Nebulae, the wire was coming up and time running out, but she was able to just get up at ahead of Call Me Lucky as well to score the win and punch her ticket to the KYO!  Minda is a three year old filly by Chief Charley and out of Mindaugas (Jolly Be Great).  She was bred in Louisiana by Team 7 Illusions as a first quarter two year old, and was purchased by Royalty Racing, unraced, for $30.770.  Congratulations to all of the connections!

2nd- 3- Call Me Lucky (6/1)- Out of the three entered into the race by Mb Stables, Call Me Lucky would be the only one in the field to represent her stable colors well in this one, and nearly came away with the victory.  From the start of the race, she raced with the leaders, stalking the pacesetting Heart Nebulae down the backstretch.  As they moved into the final turn, J R Velazquez seemed to have a lot of indecision as to which lane he wanted to take in order to complete that pass, and you have to wonder if that was just enough to keep her out of the winner’s circle here.   At the top of the stretch, she would finally take the lead and would slam the door hard on I Can Dance.    She ran well to the wire, Minda just did it a little better.

3rd- 9- Heart Nebulae (26/1)- The longshot from SamIam started very well, and would capture the lead as they moved into the first turn, setting the opening quarter time in :23.88.  She would steadily pace the field down the backstretch, and never really got tested at this point as the opening half went in :47.75.  Into the turn, Heart Nebulae was still front, and still keeping her length cushion on the field.  She valiantly tried to make it last as long as she could, but eventually Call Me Lucky, and then Minda would prove to be a little too much.  It’s a great run in any other race, but perhaps frustrating that it won’t be enough to get into the KYO.

4th- 6- Command And Conquer (2/1)- A lot of people, including us, believed in this Blushing Meadows filly today but she would be unable to command or conquer this field.  In the opening stages of the race, she was content to be with those running at the back, although one of them was Minda.  She would make up some ground over the course of the turn, but in order to make a bid for the win, R Bejarano has no other options them to swing her about six or seven wide.  Once in this lane, she showed her talent, but having to cover the extra race track would hurt in an overall close finish between the top horses.

5th- 8- Mint Condition (5/1)- The Australia Wide entry was the quickest of them all out of the gate, though would concede the lead to Heart Nebulae as they moved into the first turn.  She would eventually settle in to the third position just a couple lengths from the leaders.  J J Castellano got his filly in a good lane and wanted to make an advance into the far turn, but he just did not have the kick necessary underneath him to accomplish the plan.  While she was not awful in the stretch, they were coming hard from behind her, and those would be the ones that she could not measure up to in this one.

6th- 4- I Can Dance (15/1)- The Aml Racing entry was pretty good out of the gate, and seemed as though she would follow Mint Condition before she held back into the fourth position to cruise down the backstretch about three lengths from the leaders.  Looked good in the turn, and definitely seemed as though a better finish would be in store for her, as reeled in Mint Condition.  Just when it looked like she was going to pass that one, she simply stalled out.   Call Me Lucky moved into her lane forcefully, but I don’t see that as much of an excuse here.

7th- 5- Rock Out Loki (35/1)- Unfortunately, there are no Cinderella stories for long time trainer Ollieland in this one.  From the get-go, Rock Out Loki never really asserted herself in this one, starting the back about five lengths from the lead.  She would begin to advance in the turn, but her progress would only be gradual, in comparison to the stronger push put forth by others.   It would result in a fine effort, but she was left behind by several of them here.

8th- 1- Check My Scene (8/1)- Got off to a decent start for Mb Stables, being midpack as the run into the opening turn began, however would lose some ground as they moved into the backstretch.  Content to stay about five lengths back over this portion of the race.  Over the course of the turn, and into the stretch, Check My Scene was never able to kick it into gear and is only able to beat his fellow disappointing stablemate.

9th- 7- Hot Seller (9/2)- A little sluggish out of the gate for Mb Stables, and would be near the back around the opening turn, and at the very back at the end of the backstretch and into the final turn.  At the top of the stretch, when it came to run, Hot Seller had nothing and turns in an overall flat performance.

Track: Fast
Time: :23⁴  :47³  1:11¹  1:42

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 3 Paid 19.10
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 3 – 9 Paid 1,592.80

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES