Queen City Oaks ($100.00 Purse)
BTP- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
May 29, 2026

Bunny Connection’s career got off to a fast start, winning her first three races before getting a chance to go on the KYO trail for a bit. While success in that did never materialize, she is still just getting started in her career and would use the Queen City Oaks as her chance to bounce back. With her typical late running style, Bunny Connection came to life in the stretch to get her first stake win. The filly, who was our second choice in the race, is trained by Nakamura Stables and had C P Pilares aboard. For each, it is their first win in the Queen City Oaks. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:42.31, quicker than the only other edition of this race run at this distance. Let’s take a look at it now:

(½ Mile- :23.46)- Two horses will battle it out on the front end, and the winner’s Nakamura Stables running mate, Reasonable Charge, has a head in front of Paradise Stable’s Golden Warrior. Running a length behind them is the La Canada Racehorses- trained Miss Perfect Devil. Behind her, the pair from The Sidley Stud, Lucky Delite and Brandy Outside, are running side by side. The remaining four are all running alongside one another, a length behind Sidley’s duo. In the third lane, our eventual winner from Nakamura Stables, Bunny Connection, has the narrowest of advantages over the others. To her outside, it’s Risque Babe (D J C Racing Stables), and on her inside are both The Valley Remnant (Winning Link Stables) and Ureallygottaholdonme (TwinTowersRacing).

(½ Mile- :47.29)- Whether or not Bunny Connection needed to be connected to a rabbit in this race is unknown, but Reasonable Charge is still pacing the field though in very reasonable times. Golden Warrior fights along in the second position while Miss Perfect Devil stalks the top two. There’s a gap of about two lengths to Lucky Delite, who has now cleared her stablemate Brandy Outside by a length. Risque Babe looks to move forward on the outside, while The Valley Remnant and Bunny Connection run six lengths from the front. Ureallygottaholdonme holds on between them.

(Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- The field works around the turn and into the stretch with Miss Perfect Devil looking to take it three wide around the two pacesetters. She enters the stretch leading Golden Warrior by a neck while Reasonable Charge is getting ready to pass the baton to her stablemate. Lucky Delite remains in good stride, and looks for room on the rail, and initially the more interesting filly coming from behind was Risque Babe as she seemed poised to make a strong bid for the lead in the stretch. Bunny Connection was also advancing, and had passed both The Valley Remnant and Brandy Outside but looked like she might run into some traffic trouble with Risque Babe still on her outside as they closed the gap on the frontrunners. Ureallygottaholdonme was a length behind them and didn’t really have many options to make a run as of yet.

(Finish- 1:42.31)- Early in the stretch, Miss Perfect Devil quickly put away both Golden Warrior and Reasonable Charge. While ordinarily this would seem like a great thing, it may have actually been to her peril, because this created an opening for Bunny Connection to take advantage as she could just follow her through. C P Pilares likely would have had to check up on her since Risque Babe was still on her outside if Miss Perfect Devil did not clear them so quickly. Now, Bunny Connection did not have to break stride and make get bid to get by Miss Perfect Devil. The latter would fight but did not have enough to keep Bunny Connection from getting by in the closing moments as that one wins by a quarter length. Risque Babe is a solid third, but seemed like she’d be more of a player for the win than she ended up being. The Valley Remnant picks up the pieces to be fourth narrowly over Lucky Delite. Rounding it out, it’s Golden Warrior, Brandy Outside, Ureallygottaholdonme, and Reasonable Charge.

About The Winner- Bunny Connection, trained by Nakamura Stables and ridden to victory by C P Pilares, is a three year old filly by The Connection and is out of Colliding Bunnies. She was bred in the great breeding state of Pennsylvania by Nakamura Stables as a third quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fourth in seven starts and her first stake win. Her career earnings are now $132.40.

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded