KY Oaks – Grade I
1 1/8 Mile Dirt Stake Purse $1,500.000 Filly 3 Year Olds.

Well, when the dust settles and the ground conditions are discussed and assessed there will still be the story of a brilliant filly who won this race in such breathtaking style that there can be no doubt that she is the best three-year-old filly in training.
The wet track will define this race for sure. There will be fillies that improve and fillies that ran the best race of their lives today, we won’t know yet, but what we can safely say is that wet or dry Credit Crime would’ve won this race and the rest were always running for second.

This is how the top finishers fared:

1st Credit Crime Aer Stables Ortiz I Jr

If there is one thing that seems be apparent at HRP it is the ability of the race engine to adapt the race instructions to a wet track. Because of that there was always going to be a fast early pace and that pace set this race up for a closer as expected. That is why after the first half mile when this filly was in last place, eleven lengths off the leaders I was in fact more sure she would win rather than less. Having said that it was a worrying sight because with five furlongs to run she had only gained one place and was still ten lengths behind. What happened next was breathtaking to watch, it may have in some ways been down to the failings of a wet track race engine but nevertheless the spectacle was undeniable.
Picking her way through, she was like a hot knife through butter and in the end won going away by a length and with Oritz hanging on rather than riding out. Her record now stands at seven wins from eleven starts and the only question after this race was how on earth she had lost four races.
Her sire War Chant, as I mentioned in the write up for this race, has pretty much mirrored their racing career, one famous win when knocking down the TC hopes of Howl To The Hound and one offspring that looks at this stage to be one of the best fillies ever to grace the game. Funnily enough it is the same story with her dam who has only produced one foal of note out of her 14 offspring and had only the one win to her name.

I guess the question we have now is will this filly ever take on the boys. I know her trainer would love to but, in a way, I hope she doesn’t. Why? well in real life the fillies have a realistic chance against the boys but that has never been replicated at HRP since a filly won one of the TC legs. Having said that a match race between Extreme Jet and this filly is something that would be a race for the ages.

2nd Tactical Spin Alydar Stables Geroux F

Ran her usual race and was a very respectable second but today was second best once again to this brilliant winner. If you took Credit Crime out of the game this filly would be unbeaten this year in four graded stakes races, as it is she once again has to play second fiddle and that may end up being her story. She has undoubted ability and maybe one day, if things go her way, she is one of the few I could ever picture getting revenge. The fact that she raced closer to a fast wet track pace than the winner and still managed second is a testament to her great effort.

3rd Heart Of Joy Royalty Stables Centeno D E

One of the few fillies that had no wet track form at all and whilst the two that beat her have done it before on a dry track as well the trainer will be thrilled by this good effort. Like Tactical Spin she was much closer to the fast pace early than the winner which will undoubtedly have blunted her finish and there may just be some more improvement in her.

4th Soliloquy Sunset Nakamura Stables Gallardo A A

Like the third horse had no experience in the wet and raced right on the fast pace making her effort even more noteworthy. Part of me wonders whether she is better coming from off the pace but who really knows, and you cannot fault her effort in finishing fourth in ground conditions that may not have suited. In the end though like so many of the champion juveniles she finds herself in a tough generation of three-year-olds that have caught her improvement curve up. Maybe a mile will end up being her trip but whatever it ends up being she can be proud of a BC win and a fourth in the KY Oaks.

5th Rain Rattle Bears Stable Pennington F

She did everything right but when a gap opened in front of her at the right time and she looked like she would shoot through to be a contender, the great Credit Crime stole it. She stuck on really bravely to be first loser and never really had a clear run so there could be a bit more to come from her especially on a dry track.

6th Valkyria Alydar Stables Espinoza V

Went back as usual but couldn’t find or make the right run in the end. The wet track may have blunted her finish so there will be another day for her.

7th Creepy Runner Party Mb Stables Velazquez J R

The only Mb Stables runner in the top ten she stalked the early pace which in the conditions may have been her undoing. I think we will see the BC turf champion back on that surface after this game effort on the dirt.

8th Fire Chief Bigking Gaffalione T

The wide gate speed push put her into the lead and after setting a pace in the conditions that was never going to end well. Considering her late introduction to this level, she ran pretty well but the writing was on the wall at the first call.

9th Marina The Sidley Stud Corrales G

Her form continued to prove a little inconsistent and after flattering a little entering the stretch faded into ninth.

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES