SA Oaks (Grade 1)- $400.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
April 8, 2017

This weekend represents a huge week in the KYO chase, with a total of three 100-point races taking place, with an additional 10-point race on Sunday.  These races have not been drawing the full fields that we are seeing for the triple crown, and that does surprise me a little bit.  In this race, there are 100 points on the line for the winner, and only six are taking a shot.   Even the Ashland and the Gazelle have only drawn six and nine, respectively.   Guest of Honor and French Connection, each big winners last week are on top of the KYO point chase, with the reigning horse of the year, Snow Peak hoping she has not reached her peak, in third.   You can’t fault Mb Stables for not entering, as he has seven of the top 14, right now.  That’s pretty amazing.  The trainer makes up a third of this field as well with two entries.  Let’s take a run now through this field!

#1- Hateuscuztheyaintus (Night Mare Racing, ridden by R Bejarano) (4 KYO Points)- This Model American filly had a fantastic season as a two year old, and it earned her a berth in the BC Juvenile Fillies.  In that race, she ran third, and seemed destined to have a great season this year.  However, things hit the skids, and she has only raced once since then, coming at TUP in the $30.000 AZ Oaks, and the best she could there was third, with only an 84 SRF.  She’s flashed the potential before and run real well, so she should get this shot, but let’s hope that the TUP race was a fluke.

#2- Devils Future (Allinthegate, ridden by I Ortiz Jr.) (0 KYO Points)- Here’s another one that’s been running at TUP, having done so in her last three races.  She has only raced once this year, doing so in February at $15.000 TUP allowance, defeating three rivals for the win.  It does appear as though she is proving based on race results and works, and while I can’t see her winning this race, I do think she’s going to be very competitive here and could steal some 2nd or 3rd place KYO points.

#3- Eastern Sky (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by F Prat) (50 KYO Points)- A winner of three out of five in her young career thus far.  Most of that was spent sprinting, but she did make her debut going long in her last race, and went big with the spot, in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel.  Eastern Sky stepped up in that race late, advancing from fifth to first in the stretch to get those 50 KYO points.  That’s going to get her in the big race regardless of how she does here, but it also represents the biggest race that any of these have won in the past.   Be expecting her to run well again here and potentially double up with these two SA stakes.

#4- Easy Time (Waldo, ridden by T C Baze) (26 KYO Points)- Her 26 points put her 15th on the KYO points, which certainly puts her right on the bubble.  The good news for Waldo is the same bad news for Mb Stables, given the limitations on Mb entries for the KYO.  That probably means 26 points would be enough, but you never really know and Waldo wisely puts her here.  My feeling is that after this race, Waldo will have an easier time relaxing with Easy Time, as I think she’s the one to beat in this field.  Her achilles’ heel is that she has not won one of these graded events, but she has hit the board and been within a length in all three of the Grade 1 Chandelier, Grade 2 Demoiselle, and most recently, the Grade 2 Alexandra.  She certainly belongs in the race.  Second or third here will get her in, probably.

#5- Silent Waters (Mb Stables, ridden by R J Albarado) (2 KYO Points)- This Zero Return filly looks to prove herself to the trainer and hope to convince him to make her one of his three chosen, and it will take a win here to do that.  She’s been consistent, hitting the board in seven of her eight career starts, with three of them victories. Silent Waters is a graded winner as well, taking the Grade 3 Mazarine BC at WO, a race that also featured Hateuscuztheyaintus.  She was a non-factor in the Honeybee, and figures to bounce back here, and is likely in that top three.

#6- Sensory (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez) (0 KYO Points)- It will be the stake debut for Sensory, but she has earned her spot here by winning three of her five career races.  She was not placed highly by the trainer to begin with, and even had a couple turf starts, before facing her biggest challenge to date in her last start, an optional claimer right here at SA where she seemed to handle the track very well.  Works are strong, especially an effort at AQU in mid-February.  If she’s improved even more then that, she can stun this field.

Prediction: 4-3-5-2

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES