The CCA Oaks (Grade 1)- $500.000 Purse
SAR- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
July 19, 2025

If The CCA Oaks looks familiar to the virtual SAR- faithful, it’s probably because the top five finishers from the Acorn here last month have made their way back to the Spa to run in this race. We’ll have eight fillies in here, much like we saw last month, giving us an exciting rematch here. This is the 22nd time that the race has been run, and it’s been held here at SAR ever since 2010, when it was won by the great Mrs Bombastic. Last year’s CCA Oaks was won by Wasted Away, a horse then trained by Fractious. She had also just run in the Acorn a month prior, placing second in that race. Naturally, she’s remembered more for winning the KYO and the BC Distaff, and since this is SAR, we have to mention her Alabama win as well. She’s still doing great things now and is running in the Pitcher Stakes at MTH on Saturday as well. Let’s meet our eight runners now:

1- Creepy Runner Party (Mb Stables, ridden by M Franco)- The top three finishers from last month’s Acorn will be wearing their finishing position in that race on their saddle cloth. So, we’ll start Creepy Runner Party, who came from behind to win by about a length. It’s one of two wins for her as a three-year-old, as she also took home the trophy in the Grade 1 Ashland at KEE. In between those two races was the KYO itself, and it will not go down as one of her best performances. We can always forgive that, especially when it comes with an effective bounce back race like we saw with her in the Acorn.

2- Heart Of Joy (Royalty Stables, ridden by B Curtis)- Ran up front most of the day in the Acorn, but would be caught only by Creepy Runner Party at the finish, so still a good looking second place effort. She’s been very consistent throughout her career and has never failed to finish somewhere in the top four. The trainer would like to see the top spot a little more often, though, as Heart Of Joy has just one win in the six starts since acquiring her from Fractious for $500.000. Ran third in the KYO, and I do think she could finish the job this time and hold off Creepy Runner Party, but then there’s everyone else.

3- Thousand Hours (Mb Stables, ridden by T Gaffalione)- Won three in a row earlier this year, including two KYO preps: the Santa Ysabel Stakes and the Grade 2 Fantasy. The latter is very notable as she topped both Soliloquy Sunset and Confident Elegance, who at the time were seen as the supreme queens of this division. Then, came significant disappoint in the KYO, as she never got involved, but at least she came back with a third in the Acorn. Would love to see the version of her from earlier this year.

4- Nice Cat (BomBay Stables, ridden by M Pinto)- A lightly raced filly with just six starts to her name, but has only won one of them. She’s been better at hitting the board, and the trainer has not ducked top competition, running her in a couple preps, and then the Black Eyed Susan. Typically looks to come from behind and may need to find a way to not give herself such a deficit at the start. Her last race is a red flag to me, being dropped all the way to a FE N3L allowance, and on the turf. She was second, but I have to wonder why the trainer lost a lot of confidence in her. Regardless, that confidence seems to be back now.

5- Aye Eye (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by R Bejarano)- The last time Aye Eye won a race, it came right here at SAR, but not during the BEL racing festival last month. No, you have to go all the way back to the Adirondack eleven months ago. She got into the BC Juvenile Fillies, but really, other than a second in an optional claimer at GP in January, she has not earned another penny. Hasn’t run since April, so perhaps the rest will help her out here.

6- Este Nocha (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by S Elliott)- Her maiden win in December kicked off a five-race winning streak that would go on to include a couple of nice wins in the mud: the Grade 2 Beaumont at KEE and the Grade 2 Eight Belles at CD. Seven furlongs had been her longest distance before she tried running in the Acorn here last month, and she didn’t seem to have a problem with the distance. Placed fifth of eight but only lost by a length. This is still only her eighth start, too, so has room to grow.

7- Credit Crime (Aer Stables, ridden by I Ortiz Jr)- The reigning KYO winner was not one of those that ran in the Acorn here last month. Why? That’s because she was running in the BEL instead, and she was quite impressive in it. Coming from off the pace as she so often does, Credit Crime came all the way up for third, and got her picture taken at the wire with Extreme Jet and Without Warning. Against her own gender, Credit Crime has won her last four and never failed to hit the board. No reason to expect her to miss a beat here.

8- Soliloquy Sunset (Nakamura Stables, ridden by A A Gallardo)- Went a perfect 5-for-5 as a two-year-old, capped off by winning the BC Juvenile Fillies, and establishing herself as the one to beat as a three-year-old. 2025 has not quite been the same for her, but she is still running well, winning the Grade 3 Honeybee and running third in the Grade 2 Fantasy. Her last two starts have seen her run fourth: the KYO and the Acorn, so she could use a bounce back win here. The only times her paths have crossed with Credit Crime were the BC and the KYO.

Prediction: 7-2-8-1

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES