Dueling Ground Oaks (Grade 3)- $2,000.00 Purse
KD- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and Five Sixteenths on the Turf
September 9, 2026

Racing for the year concludes at KD this Wednesday, but it will go out with a bang as a field of fourteen will take part in the third running of the Dueling Ground Oaks, sending three year old fillies a long way around its turf course. $2,000.00 is on the line for the top four finishers, with the winner not only getting the top prize, but they will join a pretty impressive short list of previous winners of the race. In 2024, Let Me Explain got the win for Mb Stables. After winning the Acorn that year, she was moved to the turf for a while, and rolled off some impressive wins that included the DG Oaks, which were part of her eventual $3,800-plus in earnings. As good as that was, the 2025 winner fared even better for her career, as Credit Crime got the Aer Stables. She’ll be remembered more for her big wins on the dirt, which is easy to do when that includes the KYO, but she did go 3-for-5 on the turf for her career, with the other two wins in addition to this race being Grade 1’s. The filly who was retired about two weeks ago won close to $5,000.00 for her career. So, 2026 winner, you will have some very big horseshoes to fill. Let’s meet those that will be trying to do exactly that!

1- Weerden (Royalty Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- We get started with this Royalty Stables filly, who could arguably be 5-for-5 once she got her debut race out of the way. Instead, she’s settled for wins in three of those races with two other near misses. One of those close calls came in her only stake attempt to date, the $175.00 Pea Patch at ELP in July, and she’d redeem herself there a month later in an optional claimer. She has a two and a half week turnaround here, which may or may not be noteworthy.

2- Valley Center (Nakamura Stables, ridden by D E Centeno)- She essentially spent all of her early career running on the dirt, and put together some solid results along the way. Her biggest win on that surface came in the $125.00 Suncoast Stakes at TAM in February. In May, she was moved to the turf as the trainer looks to get even more out of her, and she did not look out of place in the Grade 2 Edgewood. A month later, came a win in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes, and it looks like she now has a home on the grass. Was within a length of the winning Firewall last time out in the Grade 2, $500.00 SAR Oaks, who’s one she sees again.

3- Influence Seeker (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- May still be seeking influence, but has had no issue with finding earnings, making over $1,000.00 for her career and is narrowly the highest earner in the field, over Tranect who comes from the outside. To get there, she’s won six times over 16 races, following up a strong two year old campaign that saw a BC appearance with four wins this year. Two have come in her last four races, including a three length victory in the $250.00 Pucker Up Stakes last time out. Now, the bad news. When she’s off, she’s really off. Needs to find a way to become more consistent.

4- Star Sequence (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by G Corrales)- A star is clearly on the rise here with Star Sequence, as the filly has been very impressive in just her four career starts. She would debut last December, didn’t look that great, and took six months off after that. That rest has proven to be incredibly valuable as she made a trip to CD and broke her maiden there by two lengths and she wasn’t done yet. Her next two starts have also been victorious, first showing that rain doesn’t bother win a Grade 3 Matchmaker score, and then two and a half weeks ago, winning the Grade 1 DMR Oaks by a length. Since she’s lightly raced, I have no concerns with that somewhat short turnaround. Even if she doesn’t win here, remember this name.

5- Rowena (Williams9, ridden by E Esquivel)- Last year, Rowena picked up a win right here in the $1,000.00 KD Juvenile Fillies, a victory that set her up to be one of the better options for the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. After running third there, her three year old season began nicely, with a win in the $150.00 Ginger Brew a couple days after New Years. Unfortunately, she hit a rut after that, seemingly unable to regain her old form in several races. However, horses can bounce back, and just maybe she did that with a much needed runner up showing in the Grade 3 ONT Colleen Stakes in her last race. That was the first time she even earned a penny after the Ginger Brew, so is it a sign that she’s moving back in the right direction? She did prove she could take this track last year.

6- Bubble Bath (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by L R Rivera)- This Demon filly has spent most of her career running on the dirt, and was a consistent performer as a two year old. However, this year, she has been a little more hit and miss, with positive efforts such as the third place run in the $300.00 Bourbonette Oaks, perhaps overshadowed by the two subpar outings that followed. Her three turf appearances to this aren’t necessarily terrible, but they do not do a lot to excite. She’s shown she has the ability, and if she likes this longer distance, it can work out but others in here interest me more.

7- I Am The Storm (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by M J Sanchez)- The storm winds have been blowing strong with this one as of late, taking part in three big races at SAR over the summer. First, in June, she would come from behind to get up for third in the Grade 2 Wonder Again. Following that, the trainer would give her a little more distance and increase the stakes for the BEL Oaks, taking on a few of these and being beaten only by State Title. Even more distance was added for the Grade 2 SAR Oaks, where she beat State Title, but was knocked off by Firewall as a part of a third place run. She’s been close, and doesn’t mind adding distance, so perhaps a little more will get her over the top in this one.

8- Patronize (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- This is another filly that had a strong two year old season, winning the Johnson (in a dead heat) at SAR before hitting the board in the Natalma and Jessamine. She’d further show her potential by cashing the fourth place check from the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. Patronize has not seen any big wins this year, as her lone victory came in an allowance, but she did just miss out in a photo at the Wonder Again in June. Second to Star Sequence two and a half weeks ago in the Grade 1 DMR Oaks. Does have some prior history of running on somewhat short rest, and had no issue with it.

9- State Title (Mb Stables, ridden by P Lopez)- Looking through the races of the previous eight horses, you’d have seen this name pop up very frequently. She’s regularly been going up against many of these time and time again, but is a little hit and miss as to whether or not she has success against most of them, per race. Her signature win came two back in the BEL Oaks at SAR, with an impressive wire to wire win, but she could not replicate that a month later on the same track in the SAR Oaks, failing to cash any sort of check. With her prior trainer, Team 7 Illusions, she was second on this track, to Rowena, in the KD Juvenile Fillies while also being the runner up in the BC Juvenile Fillies. A contender here only if the BEL Oaks side of her shows up.

10- Clement (Royalty Stables, ridden by T Gaffalione)- There’s good news and bad news about Clement. In this filly’s six career starts, she has been able to win half of them, with her career highlight to this point being an impressive come from behind effort to win the Grade 2 Wonder Again at SAR. The bad news is that when she is not winning, is no where to be seen at the end, losing those three races by a combined fifteen lengths. That includes a dismal last place effort in the BEL Oaks, where she was last throughout. She’s been rotating her wins and her duds back and forth thus far, so here’s the good news: she is due to win if you follow that pattern. Obviously, there’s a lot more that goes into it than that, and Royalty Stables is tasked with the challenge of getting her to run her best every time she is out there.

11- Shot Of Summer (Diablo Diablo, ridden by V Espinoza)- Diablo Diablo gave this filly a shot of summer at the Spa, running her in both the BEL Oaks and the SAR Oaks. In June, finishing ahead of only one, who was the aforementioned Clement in one of his no show races. Then, with V Espinoza aboard, Shot Of Summer would bounce back in the SAR Oaks to run second, topping a few of her opponents here, but not Firewall. Overall, she’s been a steady producer who was able to run in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. She has not yet won one of the graded races that she has been in, but I think she’s appealing at this distance.

12- Whirlwind Spirit (Acber Farms, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- Spent most of her early days running on the dirt, and was consistently able to pick up checks with every start. Winning a couple of overnights then moved her up into ungraded competition, and she narrowly missed a win in the $125.00 Suncoast at TAM, but the photo went to Valley Center, who is one of her opponents here as well. Moved to the turf in May, and was not an immediate success story but she would look good against fellow NY-breds. Picked up the win in the $200.00 O Cain in her last start. She hasn’t faced a field of this quality before, but won’t be scared off by them.

13- Firewall (Mb Stables, ridden by R Santana Jr)- Began her career with two races on the turf, but after being moved to the main track and winning the Grade 2 Demoiselle, that’s where she would stay for a while. While she may not have stood out in her KYO preps after that, she was competitive each time she was asked, but ultimately Mb Stables decided to move her back to the grass. There would be no regrets in the decision, as Firewall took the Regret in May, then two starts later won the SAR Oaks at the Spa. In between, she was third in the BEL Oaks, so she has been running against many of these often and runs consistently against them. Should be expected to be in the mix here at the end as well.

14- Tranect (Acber Farms, ridden by B Curtis)- In the opening, we talked about the two previous winners of this race having also taken either the KYO or the Acorn, among others, but up to this point, we haven’t seen in anyone in this field that came out of either race. Tranect, however, was a KYO runner, getting there on the back of wins in both the Grade 2 Starlet and Alexandria. In the KYO, she would run a solid fourth, and was within half a length. But that’s not all there is to Tranect’s career, because she was also taking care of business on the turf as a two year old, and got a win right here in the $1,000.00 Untapable. That helped earn her spot in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, where she struggled and was ultimately moved to the dirt. It’ll be exciting to see how she responds to being back on the grass, and going up against others who have been establishing themselves as the ones to beat on the surface.

Prediction: 7-4-13-14

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES