RP Oaks (Grade 3)- $200.000 Purse
RP- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
September 26, 2021

Seven horses will be heading to the starting gate for the tenth running of the RP Oaks, and they are a good mixture of horses who are very well known on the graded stakes scene and others working their way up the ladder. This race initially debuted on the calendar in 2004 as a smaller, $40.000 ungraded stake, and would not be run from 2009-2015. It reappeared in 2016 with a $200.000 purse, and a year later would be given its current Grade 3 designation. Last year, Mb Stables won this race with the still active Fashionable. The purse was dropped to $100.000 for that race, but it is good to see it back for this edition. Let’s take a look at those in the field!

#1- Glamorous Life (Nakamura Stables, ridden by S Elliott)- This is one of those horses who does a much better job hitting the board than she actually does winning. Overall, she’s been in the top three nine out of ten times, but only two have been wins. It’s been over a year since that last trip to the winners circle, and she has been running in overnights much of this year before being seen in the Grade 3 DEL Oaks on July 3rd, which is her last start.

#2- Bay Of Indy (Broken Spoke Stables, ridden by M Franco)- For prior trainer Serenity Stables, she had a healthy diet of ungraded stakes, and ended up winning one in late May. However, she was unable to make the jump into the Grade 2 Princess Rooney with a lackluster performance, and that would be it for her and Serenity. Broken Spoke picked her up in private sales for $110.000 and just three days later, entered her into an optional claimer. She was second there. Now, her and her new trainer have had the time to get to know one another a lot more and that will definitely help.

#3- Lady Narloff (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by J K Court)- After an impressive win in an optional claimer, Lady Narloff was promoted into the graded ranks for the Grade 3 Selene, and ran second. She would then do the same in the Grade 1 CCA Oaks, and in each race came from off the pace to get her result. Then the trainer stuck something on her face. In the Grade 1 Alabama with her new shadow roll, that stretch run never came with a rather horrible race. I can gladly report that has been removed (at least as of right now). Let’s get back to seeing the old Lady Narloff!

#4- Geek Time (Nakamura Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- It’s not really easy to get excited about this one. She’s won just once in her eight career starts, and really has not been close in many of the overnights she has been in. Her most recent work is fine and all, but she has not been showing that at the track. She’s here because a very good trainer believes in her, but I’ll pass.

#5- Soviet Sensation (Mb Stables, ridden by G Saez)- In March, she won the GP Oaks and that would send her into the KYO. If she was picked for that race by Mb Stables, surely at that time he believed in her very strongly. Didn’t run particularly well there, or in the Acorn. Her last race was the Grade 1 Alabama, and she also struggled in that one. The competition is lighter here, so it is a good chance to see if she can settle in to being a good “second tier” type horse in this stable if she’s not going to get it done in the bigger races.

#6- Slim Trim And Grim (Wood Duck Stables, ridden by D Cabrera)- Her name applied to her effort in her last start, which like a couple of others here, was the Grade 1 Alabama. Slim Trim And Grim fizzled in the stretch, so it would be of benefit to her to run the shorter distance here. It was a big jump forward, though, for a horse that was successful in overnights but did not hit the board in the Grade 3 Sexton Mile when she ran against the boys. This is a better spot for her.

#7- Power Walk (Mb Stables, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- This was an exciting horse to watch for a few months during the spring, as Mb Stables ran her against the boys and it would pay off in her big AR Derby win. This got her into the KYD, where she was one of three fillies to take part in the race. She was fourth there, and it seemed like she had a great ceiling. Unfortunately, Power Walk may have tripped on a sidewalk crack just enough to let others in the division get by here. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still doing very well and was second in the Grade 2 Prioress at SAR recently. But she’s here, and not in the Cotillion, and that seemed to be more where her career was heading. Should be the one to beat, and maybe that gets her back running against the elites.

#8- Tall And Fast (Arindel, ridden by R A Vazquez)- Our final entry in the race has been a regular in the graded ranks, and in this type of race. She did get to the KYO back in May, and set the fractions before everyone went by. After that, she backed out of the greatest spotlight, and settled into running in Grade 3’s, and one Grade 2. That said, she has not won any of them yet, and has failed to hit the board in any of her last three starts. That’s what concerns me the most. I think she could get a piece of this purse, but not the biggest portion.

Prediction: 7-3-6-8

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES