CT Oaks (Grade 3)- $300.000 Purse
CT- For Three Years Old
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
September 21, 2019

Stakes racing returns to the bullring at CT once again this weekend, as a field of seven will contest the Grade 3 CT Oaks. It will be the eighth time that the race has been run, and it is another race that Mb Stables has been very successful in. He would win four consecutive editions of this race between 2014 and 2017, but John Henry put a cold pack on that streak in 2018 with his winner. It would be the last win of the career for Coldpack, who was retired after a race this July. Each of those trainers, not surprisingly, have entries in this field as well. Let’s met their runners, and the rest of the field!

#1- Test Of Time (Aer Stables, ridden by D Saenz)- Winner of the Summer Oaks earlier this year, but would find herself in the most recent auction. Aer Stables picked her up for $100.000 from La Canada Racehorses, and we’ll see if there is a tactical change in store for her. Since she has not been with the trainer all that long yet, I would anticipate her being on the lead again, like has been the recent norm.

#2- Florence Nightingale (Mb Stables, ridden by E Esquivel)- The only runner in the field for the trainer looking for his fifth win here in six years. This was a recent $25.000 claim from Blushing Meadows, and she will be making her stake debut here after two good runs in starter allowances at SAR over the summer. She has certainly earned the chance, and was a wide claim for Mb Stables.

#3- Dancing Hero (Gdp Inc, ridden by J Lermyte)- Making the tenth start of her career and is hoping to win something other then a maiden race. The trainer has always thought highly of her, which would explain a couple of stakes run in before she even broke her maiden. Hits the board often, but I hate to say it, she is tough to bet on to win after having been a beaten favorite so often, and in smaller fields.

#4- Gingers A Ten (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by G Franco)- It took her a little while to break her maiden as well, doing so in her seventh career start. Unlike Dancing Hero, she’s won again, and now comes in here on a winning streak. The Ginger Haggis filly is often on the lead early, so it could be interesting to see if a speed battle develops between her and Test Of Time. More then likely, one will choose another tactic.

#5- Tommy Frazier (John Henry, ridden by M E Smith)- I would question why she can’t stick around with one barn, but she’s really just been in the wrong place at the wrong time with trainers who eventually sold off, or are selling off, their stock. John Henry should be around a while, hopefully, so now she should be able to stay in a barn and continue to move her career forward that has seen her win three times in nine starts, including the Grade 3 Victory Ride at BEL in July.

#6- Sharp Suit (Rampage Stable, ridden by F Geroux)- This horse, for some reason, does not get much love at the betting window, and for a horse that won the Grade 2 Eight Belles three starts ago, you have to wonder why. In this field, I can’t see her being a double digit longshot again, but if she does, then it’s time to put some money on her. She likes to come from behind, and that’s a strategy I sense might be particularly good in this field. If just one of her two races after the Eight Belles were better, I would be putting her on top regardless of the odds.

#7- Kalaeloa (Smokey Stover, ridden by V Espinoza)- This PA-bred has been spending a lot her time running in statebred stakes, and her last four such races have seen two wins, and two second places that saw her just barely miss. An attempt over the spring in the Grade 1 SA Oaks did not go as well, but she is on better form right now. This field will be tougher then a PA-bred stake, but not anywhere close to the SA Oaks, and I am giving her the nod.

Prediction: 7-6-3-4

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES