SAR Oaks (Grade 3)- $400.000 Purse
SAR- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and Three Sixteenths on the Turf
August 4, 2023
As the calendar turns to August, an entertaining slate of stakes racing are sure to entertain us all month. On Friday, one of the first such races is the fifth running of the SAR Oaks, a long turf event for three-year-old fillies. Unfortunately, this is a race that has seen a reduction in its purse, and it’s more than just a little bit as the former $700.000 amount is no longer. Now, trainers will have to settle for just a little more than half of that. Last year’s purse was enough to attract Perfect Class, who went on to win the race for Sccj Stables. It was a part of a truly special season for her, that saw the filly ultimately win the BC Fillies and Mares Turf. It’s surprising that she has not won a race in 2023, and a couple weeks ago in the Diana, she was a non-factor. Perfect Class was already an elite horse by the time she came here in 2022, and I’m not sure we have a horse that can be considered to be on that level in this field for 2023. Bombing For Peace fans might not like that statement, but Perfect Class was on another level. So, perhaps it is the smaller purse that played a role in that. We’ll have seven going to the starting gate on Friday, and trainers will want to keep an eye on the weather forecast. Right now, it looks like it could go either way as to whether or not it is an off track or not. Here’s a look at the field:
#1- Copper Jewels (Winning Link Stables, ridden by L Saez)- After breaking her maiden in her third start, which was almost exactly a year ago to race day, Copper Jewels was entered into a couple of top races, which includes the Grade 2 Jessamine. She long-time at all, in them, and it would be back to overnights. It would take her a little while, even after that, to find that second win, but she eventually got that in an N1X allowance at LS last month. Now, the trainer is trying again to run her against some of the best. If it were a mile, she’d seem outclassed to me, but maybe the added distance puts this back in her wheelhouse.
#2- Proper (Pan Farms, ridden by D E Centeno)- Haven’t seen a Pan Farms horse in one of my previews in a while, so it’s good to see the long-time trainer here. Proper is lightly raced with just four races thus far, but one of them was quite impressive. Back in June, she would win the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at SA, which is nine furlongs on the grass. Following that, at a slightly shorter distance, the race may have just not been long enough for her, as she got up for third but was on the move. She looks like a good option here as she goes longer, and she may still have plenty of upside.
#3- Mo Ki Mo (Smokey Stover, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- If her name looks familiar, it is because of her dam, the late Mo Ki Missy, who won over $1,100.000 in her career while being known as a horse that went long on the grass. So, is Mo Ki Mo following right in her mother’s footsteps? Well, not exactly, at least not yet. She’s been successful, with three wins in six starts, and comes out of an allowance victory at WO. All of those races were sprints, with all but one coming on the grass. Now, she will look to do what Mo Ki Missy did so well, and her work times provide more reason to be excited about this move.
#4- Untidy (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- This one began the year running in preps for the KYO, and in April she picked up a big win, coming in the GP Oaks, which sent her to big race. She actually ran well in the KYO, too, finishing within a length of the winner despite a sixth-place effort. A month later, it was off to the Acorn, where it was a similar story of not being far behind the winner, but being behind too many others, placing seventh. After that, Mb Stables decided to move her to the turf, where she ran in the BEL Oaks. A late run saw her get fourth but be beaten by two lengths by the one right next to her here.
#5- Bombing For Peace (Jerry Garcia Racing, ridden by L Dettori)- Last year, Perfect Class came into the SAR Oaks fresh off a win in the BEL Oaks. That’s exactly what Bombing For Peace is trying to do here. For right now, that’s where the similarities between these two should end. Prior to the BEL Oaks win, the only other wins for Bombing For Peace came in overnights. This is not to say that this filly cannot get to that level, and a win here in the SAR Oaks would certainly set her in the right direction to do so. No one in this field has earned more than she has, and she will not have a problem with the distance. If she runs like she did last month, she’ll get it done.
#6- Modern Marvel (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by M Franco)- At this point, Modern Marvel is not the type of horse that is going to excite in this race. She’s only won once out of nine starts, and that was a maiden at TAM in December. She had struggled the two races that were right before that, and she continued to struggle after, with very little to write home about over her last three starts. Doesn’t have a lot of turf experience and has not raced this type of distance in her career. The trainer is banking on her handling this well. We shall see.
#7- November Storm (Mb Stables, ridden by P Lopez)- Picked in private sales in late July for $300.000 from Barcelona Farms, November Storm will be making her debut in the silks of Mb Stables. She has actually not raced since late May, when she won an optional claimer, at ten furlongs, at SA. Overall, she’s been able to win with regularity, doing so four of seven times, and all of those races are running long on turf. Three of those wins were by convincing margins as well, and she has also handled off tracks very well. It’s no mystery, then, what attracted the filly to Mb Stables, and she could be a name to remember down the road. It’s her stake debut, so we can’t get ahead of ourselves too much yet.
Prediction: 5-7-3-2
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
