DMR Oaks (Grade 1)- $300.000 Purse
DMR- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
August 19, 2023

Heading into the DMR Oaks, Raw And Real had been a horse that knew how to find her way to the winner’s circle, taking half of her twelve career starts. She was coming off of a win in the Lake George, and seemed to be one of the top choices in the field. We would make her our pick to win, and she would be the second choice of the betting public. This traditional frontrunner would not score another wire to wire win like she so often does, but it was close enough! She is trained by Mb Stables, who inches closer now to his 1000th career graded win, now standing at 995 following all races on Saturday. Three of those wins have come in the DMR Oaks, a race that he has now won three times since 2019. Mario Gutierrez wins his second edition of this race, repeating as the winning jockey after riding State Caviar last year. The time of the race was 1:45.82, a middle of the road such winning time for this race. Congratulations to them!

(1/2 Mile- :47.15)- A few horses break well out of the starting gate, and prevailing amongst them will be the High Voltage- trained Mundi Moon. Initially, she was about a length ahead of the closest rivals, but as the field moved around the opening turn, two of them would get a little closer. One of them would be Copper Jewels, for Winning Link Stables, and she would run in the third lane. Between them, our eventual winner, Raw And Real, would settle for third in the early going for Mb Stables, but still seemed to be right where she needed to be. Running fourth is a single stalker, that being TwinTowersRacing’s Ruby Ridge. Behind her, they are three wide with, from inside to outside, Twilight Time (Fractious), Hollywood Twister (Spankys Barn), Ethereum Star (Smokey Stover). Trailing are Greek (Mb Stables) and Chat My Ears Off (High Voltage).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.65)- Down the backstretch we go, and Raw And Real has decided that she has let Mundi Moon lead long enough, and comes on between that one and Copper Jewels to now hold the lead by a neck. It’s Copper Jewels that is in second, and that one is still looking sharp, as well. Mundi Moon is within a length and not about to give in to the other two. The gap behind them has opened up to two lengths as Ruby Ridge loses a bit of ground, and falls into the clutches of Ethereum Star, who is about to go by while running on the outside. Hollywood Twister is a length back, Twilight Time keeping them in reach. Chat My Ears Off and Greek are still at the back.

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Rounding the turn, and moving into the stretch, Raw And Real is looking strong. The progress that she had made while splitting the top two in the backstretch would continue, and now her lead would be over a length. Gutierrez could look over his shoulder, and see that gap increasing, with no other challenger emerging from behind. It wasn’t formally in the bag yet, but it was certainly looking good. Copper Jewels and Mundi Moon were still second and third, and there was simply no one else that was close. Ethereum Star was fourth, but had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it in. For anyone else to have a shot, it would be a massive effort.

(Finish- 1:45.82)- No surprises would happen in the stretch. Raw And Real was clear of the opposition and still in good stride. She wasn’t putting any more distance on Copper Jewels, but she didn’t really need to. That one was not gaining any ground back. In the end, it would be Raw And Real winning by a length and a half over Copper Jewels, with Mundi Moon dropping into a third place dead heat with Ethereum Star, who would be the only horse that was not initially at the front to show interest in making a run. Twilight time is the best of the rest, ahead of Chat My Ears Off, Hollywood Twister, Ruby Ridge, and Greek.

About The Winner- Raw And Real, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by Mario Gutierrez, is a three year old filly by Ooh Raw, and is out of Le Grand Briganderie. She was bred in West Virginia as a first quarter two year old by Boulevard, and was acquired by Mb Stables when she was still unraced for $11.010 in the March 2022 auction. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her seventh in 13 starts, her fourth stake win, and third graded win. Her career earnings are now $666.750.

Track: Firm
Time: :47   1:10³  1:34   1:45⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 3 – 5 Paid 69.90
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 5 – 1 Paid 761.80, 3 – 5 – 7 Paid 37.20

Scratched: None

 — NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES