DMR Oaks (Grade 1)- $300.000 Purse
DMR- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
August 20, 2016

It doesn’t matter where Heartland is sent, this filly knows how to get the job done.    Just looking at her finishes in past races, there was no reason not to believe in her, as she had four wins and three seconds in her prior seven races.  The problem with that was that all of those races were not against the strongest competition, and just two months ago, trainer TwinTowersRacing claimed her from Luz International for just $12.000.   The new trainer wasted no time putting her in a stake, and off a good effort in that, she came here, to take on some of the best.   With K J Desormeaux aboard, Heartland confidently stalked the leaders most of the way prior to making her winning move in the stretch.  It is the first win in the stake for the trainer, and the second victory for the jockey, who also won the race in 2007.  The time of the win was 1:45.55, the second quickest in the history of the stake.  Congratulations to the winner! Let’s look at how it was won!

1st- 5- Heartland (11/1)- The eventual race winner from TwinTowers Racing was steady out of the gate, and would look to stalk to the two frontunners, trailing them by about three lengths as they moved into the first turn.  She would continue to maintain this position around that turn, racing comfortably in the second lane.  Heartland would never allow Narly Kruz to clear her, which would be good and allow her to start moving forward midway into the backstretch without any type of interference.   By the time they reached the final turn, she had become second, with two lengths to make up.   This is where she would make up the ground she needed to on Ghost Runner and nearly had pulled even with her at the top of the stretch.  In the stretch, Heartland exploded with run while Ghost Runner simply could not find the same additional gear. With no other challenges coming from behind, all that was left was for her to find the finish line and a virtual hand ride from K J Desormeaux.   The time of the win again was 1:45.55.  Heartland is a three year old filly by Dead (Die Laffin) and out of Barbwired (Barbarino).  She was bred in New York by Luz International as a second quarter two year old, and was acquired in a $12.000 claimer at MTH just two months ago by TwinTowersRacing.  Congratulations to the connections!

2nd- 6- Ghost Runner (6/1)- The Pumpkin Racing filly was the quickest of them all out of the gate, and jumped out to the early lead.  Once clearing Narly Kruz, the advantage would sit at about two lengths as the rounded the first turn, running the opening half mile in :46.65.  No one would challenge her for the lead on the backstretch, taking six furlongs in 1:09.81.  In the turn, Heartland would make up considerable ground, but Ghost Runner still had a good advantage over everyone else.  She had no response for the winner, but would be able to hold off the others for second.

3rd- 1- Dragonville (7/2)- As her rival jumped out the early lead, the Drabfantasy entry started the race in the middle of the pack.  Staying along the rail for the opening turn, Dragonville found herself fourth and three and a half lengths off the lead into the backstretch.  R Bejarano may have had slight indecisiveness when sizing up his move around Narly Kruz, and would ultimately end up in a good spot directly behind Heartland.  Followed the winner through around the turn, but in the top of the stretch, Heartland would only pull away, and she could not get to Ghost Runner in time.

4th- 2- Witches Spec (15/1)- The longshot from Blushing Meadows started near the rear of the field, spending the early moments of the race running alongside Drip.  She may have wanted to advance in the backstretch, but had Dragonville come down on her pretty hard as she was looking to get to the outside of Narly Kruz.  Due to this, D Moran had to wait until the top of the final turn to prepare to move around Dragonville and advance.  Had the lane for the stretch, but could never get around Dragonville.

5th- 3- Drip (3/1)- Making her stake debut, it was surprising to see the Aml Racing entry nearly go off as the favorite here.  She would not be able to back up the confidence the people had in her.  Beginning near the rear of the field, Drip was five lengths back as they moved into the backstretch.  Continued there for the backstretch, and ended up wide in the final turn.  Ran steady without a notable push all the way to the wire.

6th- 4- Command And Conquer (22/1)– The filly from John Henry had no interest in the early pace, and went promptly to the back of the field.  She would concede about seven lengths to the leaders as they rounded the first turn.  Looked to make her move in the stretch, and ran into some traffic troubles to do so, especially when the fading Narly Kruz moved up a lane right in front of her in the stretch.

7th- 8- Narly Kruz (5/2)- The surprising post time favorite from Brave was sharp out of the gate and contested Ghost Runner for the early advantage before being content to fall in line behind her around the opening turn.  Steady in the backstretch, but passed by Heartland at the top of the final turn.  Seemed to lose all interest once that happened.

8th- 7- Red Belle (8/1)- Did not start all that badly for Spongebob, but seemed to lose quite a bit of ground in the opening turn before she settled in for the backstretch trip in the fourth position. Midway into the backstretch run, she began to fade out of it, a trend which continued into the turn, at which point everyone had gone by.

Track: Firm
Time: :46³  1:09⁴  1:33³  1:45²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 6 Paid 77.60
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 6 – 1 Paid 297.90

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES