The BEL Oaks (Grade 1)- $500.000 Purse
BEL- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Quarter on the Turf
July 8, 2023
The Grade 1 BEL Oaks was one of the highlights on the day that closed out the summer meet here. With the BC Fillies and Mares Turf four months away, this race always proves to be impactful even if it is not classified as one of the “win and you’re in races”. There would not be a clear favorite for this race, but one of the horses liked by the bettors quite a bit would be Bombing For Peace, from Jerry Garcia Stables. She came into this race having won three out of six, but none of the stakes that she had been in. However, she ran well in the Grade 3 Regret at CD last month, and just maybe all she needed was a little more distance. She would get that today, and while she would run the race much differently from a tactical standpoint, Bombing For Peace would take home the win, doing so by a length. For Jerry Garcia Racing, this is his first win in the BEL Oaks, and that is also true for the rider, L Dettori. Congratulations to them! The time of the victory was 1:58.78, and that’s the fastest time recorded in this stake with the ten-furlong distance. Let’s take a look at it!
(1/2 Mile- :47.93)- Bombing For Peace breaks sharply out of the gate for Jerry Garcia Racing and leads the way moving into the first turn. She would get passed at this time, as In Dreams slides by to her inside for TwinTowersRacing and it’s that one that can take credit for being the leader at a half mile. Bombing For Peace is content to run in her shadow in second. Behind these two, we have a pair of stalkers, with Undisputed running on the inside of Mb Stables and Authority To Pass on the outside for Maxmillion Farm. The slight post time favorite, The Freakshow’s Sinister City is a length behind them, and we have a sizable gap to the rest of the field. Salty Sometime Sweet (Night Rider Stables) leads the second pack, with Andie Walsh (First Flight Stable), Untidy (Mb Stables) and Bee Cyclone (Maxmillion Farm) keeping her company back there.
(3/4 Mile- 1:11.74)- After letting In Dreams lead for a little bit, Bombing For Peace reclaims the top spot midway through the backstretch and nearly has a full-length advantage as they enter the final turn. Authority To Pass and Undisputed are both sitting in a great spot here if they wanted to make a move, with Sinister City still running with the lead group in fifth. None of the four trailers were gearing up to make a run as of yet.
(Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Bombing For Peace had looked good right from the starting gate, but she won this race thanks to her run in the turn, powering ahead of In Dreams in an effortless manner. This also allowed her to open up by two lengths as we waited to see who would be the one to challenge her. Undisputed would run second, but was she simply the best of the rest at this point? Authority To Pass and Sinister City were trying to hang in there, while In Dreams was showing signs of fatigue. Untidy had pulled ahead of the other trailers, and of that group seemed to be the only one worth keeping an eye on.
(Finish- 1:58.78)- The BEL Oaks would be all about Bombing For Peace on this day. There was no one better, and in the stretch, there was no one able to mount a challenge to her as she makes it look a lot easier than it was in reality. It’s essentially a two-length win for her and it will be exciting to see where she goes from here off of this race. In a tight photo for second, Undisputed gets the head bob on Sinister City, but that’s all they were running for. Untidy was strong late and gets fourth place winnings to show for it. The rest of the order will read Authority To Pass, In Dreams, Bee Cyclone, Andie Walsh, and eventually, Salty Sometime Sweet.
About The Winner- Bombing For Peace, trained by Jerry Garcia Racing and ridden to victory by L Dettori, is a three-year-old filly by Bitcoin Is Peace and is out of A Bomb. She was bred in Florida as a third quarter two-year-old by Patterson Stables and was acquired by Jerry Garcia Racing in an August 2022 private sale for $75.000 while she was still unraced. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fourth in seven starts and her first stake win. Her career earnings are now $482.310.
| ## | Horse Name | Owner Name | Jockey | Odds | Fin | Time | SRF | |||
|
Bombing For Peace | Jerry Garcia Racing | Dettori L | 3.75 | 11 | 1:58.78 | ||||
|
Undisputed | Mb Stables | Lopez P | 3.35 | 2no | 1:59.13 | ||||
|
Sinister City | The Freakshow | Franco M | 3.30 | 31/2 | 1:59.14 | ||||
|
Untidy | Mb Stables | Velazquez J R | 12.75 | 41/2 | 1:59.28 | ||||
|
Authority To Pass | Maxmillion Farm | Jaramillo E | 16.15 | 52 | 1:59.38 | ||||
|
In Dreams | TwinTowersRacing | Saez L | 17.95 | 6no | 1:59.86 | ||||
|
Bee Cyclone | Maxmillion Farm | Jimenez A | 5.30 | 71 | 1:59.88 | ||||
|
Andie Walsh | First Flight Stable | Gaffalione T | 5.10 | 81 | 2:00.11 | ||||
|
Salty Sometime Sweet | Night Rider Stables | Cedillo A | 672.20 | 9 | 2:00.36 |
Track: Firm
Time: :474 1:113 1:351 1:583
$2 Mutuel Prices:
| 9 – Bombing For Peace | 9.50 | 4.60 | 3.10 |
| 3 – Undisputed | 4.60 | 3.00 | |
| 4 – Sinister City | 2.90 |
$1 Exacta: 9 – 3 Paid 15.10
$1 Trifecta: 9 – 3 – 4 Paid 35.50
Scratched: None
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
