Delaware Oaks Sat G2 300K
Jul 10, 2013 22:33:10 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Jul 10, 2013 22:33:10 GMT -5
Delaware Oaks features Tell a Great Story, Ile St. Molly rematch
Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Delaware Oaks will feature a rematch between Tell a Great Story and Ile St. Molly as a field of nine three-year-old fillies lines up in the 1 1/16-mile contest at Delaware Park. Those are the only two stakes winners in a race that, since its return to Delaware's stakes schedule in 1997, has produced five eventual winners of the Alabama Stakes, two three-year-old filly champions and one Horse of the Year.
Tell a Great Story made her stakes bow in the Go for Wand, just getting up at the wire to deny Ile St. Molly by a nose. The chestnut daughter of Bluegrass Cat is no stranger to adversity, as she almost did not survive her birth on April 5, 2010. The Sagamore Farm homebred, born tiny and unable to breath, was termed a "dummy foal" due to her inability to feed from her mother after birth and was nursed to health by her handlers.
That didn't stop the Maryland-bred miss from growing up to break her maiden debut by 5 3/4 lengths for trainer Ignacio Correas IV at Laurel Park in January. Tell a Great Story was third next out over that track in a 5 1/2-furlong optional claimer, then stretched out to 1 1/16 miles when shipping to Pimlico and just missing by a head in a similar contest on April 12. She finally broke through against winners a month later under those same conditions before going on to take the Go for Wand at Delaware in her prep for the Saturday's Oaks.
"She is doing well and we think she is going to make a good showing," Correas said. "We are going to do exactly what we did before the Go for Wand. We are going to ship in the day before the race. On the morning of the race, we are going to gallop and go to gate. She has been very good in the gate lately, and she has been very good shipping lately. She has had some problems with both in the past, but she has been handling both well. In her last two or three races, she has been very good, so we are going to just do what we have done with her recently with success."
Correas knows if she can run back to her Go for Wand performance, Tell a Great Story will be tough.
"Hopefully, she runs the same way and if she runs the same race, we know we are going to have a good chance," he remarked. "Her two workouts coming into this race have been good, and she is training very well. She has been getting better with every race, and I think that is because she is becoming more mature and focused.
"This is going to be a big step up for her, though. When you run for this kind of money with these stakes, it is never easy, so we are also looking at this as a chance to see where we are with this filly. We are very happy with where we are now and we will see where we are after the race. Hopefully, we will be a whole lot happier."
Ile St. Molly, who had 11 1/2 lengths to spare over Alli Leigh in the Go for Wand, was already a stakes winner heading into that race. The Ile St. Louis sophomore had captured Oaklawn Park's Lady Razorback Futurity during her two-year-old campaign, and earlier this year added that track's Rainbow Miss and Delaware Park's Our Mims to her resume.
"We have been trying to teach her to lay off the pace a little bit, but however it sets up, I think we can do either this time," trainer Kenny Smith said of his star pupil. "I think we can win on the lead or I think we can just set off the pace if we have to do it. I look for a good race out of her.
"She is easy and a pleasure to train. A lot of them will surprise you, and that is why you got to give them all a chance to run in these kind of races to see if they can handle it. Some of them handle it and some of them do not. I have had a bunch of horses in my career handle it, but I have had a whole lot more who have not. That is a part of the game. But I think this filly is special. I think she is going to run really well, and I do not think the mile-and-a-sixteenth will bother her one bit.
"In the Go for Wand, both of those fillies finished awfully strong with a pretty fast final quarter. My filly was a little aggressive down the backside, but we got outrun, and when you get outrun, you just go to the next race."
While all eyes will be on Tell a Great Story and Ile St. Molly, Maracuya could upset the apple cart following a fourth-placing in the Black-Eyed Susan on May 17. The Ralph Nicks trainee captured her initial two starts at Gulfstream Park in March and will have jockey Edgar Prado aboard for her second stakes try.
Also entered are Go for Wand third Alli Leigh; Broomsage, who was third in the Our Mims and fourth in the Go for Wand; and Dancing Afleet, winner of her last two by a combined 11 1/2 lengths.
Brisnet
Go to Race: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10
Delaware Park - Saturday, July 13, 2013
Race 8 - 4:45 PM STAKES Delaware Oaks (Grade II)
Purse $300,000. For Fillies Three Years Old. By subscription of $250 each, which shall accompany the nomination, $1,000 to enter and $1,500 to start. Supplemental nominations of $3,000 will be accepted at time of entry which shall include all other fees due as noted.$300,000 Guaranteed, of which $180,000 to the winner, $60,000 to second, $33,000 to third, $18,000 to fourth and $9,000 to fifth. Weight 122 Lbs. Non-Winners of $90,000 at a mile or over in 2013 allowed 2 Lbs., $60,000 at a mile or over in 2013, 4 Lbs., $45,000 at a mile or over in 2013, 6 Lbs. (Maiden, claiming and starter races not considered in estimating allowances). Starters to pass the entry box by the usual time of closing. Field limited to 14 starters. Preference to horses that have accumulated the highest total earnings. Horses that finished first, second or third in the Go For Wand Stakes automatically earned a free nomination to the Delaware Oaks. Trophy to the winning owner, trainer and jockey. One And One Sixteenth Miles.
PP Horse Virtual
Stable A/S Med Jockey Wgt Trainer
1 Alli Leigh (KY) 3/F L J Rose 116 S M Asmussen
2 Maracuya (KY) 3/F L E S Prado 116 R E Nicks
3 Diva Spirit (KY) 3/F L A Castellano, Jr. 116 O Aboughazale
4 Broomsage (VA) 3/F L S Bridgmohan 116 M R Matz
5 Makayla's Angel (KY) 3/F L M Rispoli 116 H G Motion
6 Maddy's Dance (PA) 3/F L J C Caraballo 116 J Rigattieri
7 Dancing Afleet (PA) 3/F L J Navarro 116 T F Ritchey
8 Ile St. Molly (AR) 3/F L A Cintron 116 K P Smith
9 Tell a Great Story (MD) 3/F L F Boyce 118 I Correas, IV
Owners: 1 - Millennium Farms ; 2 - T. C. Stable LLC and Martin, Johns ; 3 - Sumaya U.S. Stables ; 4 - Morgan's Ford Farm ; 5 - Debby M. Oxley ; 6 - Dennis J. Federico ; 7 - Tim F. Ritchey Racing Stables, Inc and Frazier, Beverly ; 8 - James H. Glover ; 9 - Sagamore Farm
Breeders: 1 - Millennium Farms; 2 - T/C Stable, LLC & Paul Pompa Jr.; 3 - International Equities Holding, Inc.; 4 - Morgan's Ford Farm; 5 - Debby Oxley; 6 - D. J. Federico; 7 - Barbara Brown & Chuck Zacney; 8 - James H. Glover; 9 - Sagamore Farm, LLC
Equibase
Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Delaware Oaks will feature a rematch between Tell a Great Story and Ile St. Molly as a field of nine three-year-old fillies lines up in the 1 1/16-mile contest at Delaware Park. Those are the only two stakes winners in a race that, since its return to Delaware's stakes schedule in 1997, has produced five eventual winners of the Alabama Stakes, two three-year-old filly champions and one Horse of the Year.
Tell a Great Story made her stakes bow in the Go for Wand, just getting up at the wire to deny Ile St. Molly by a nose. The chestnut daughter of Bluegrass Cat is no stranger to adversity, as she almost did not survive her birth on April 5, 2010. The Sagamore Farm homebred, born tiny and unable to breath, was termed a "dummy foal" due to her inability to feed from her mother after birth and was nursed to health by her handlers.
That didn't stop the Maryland-bred miss from growing up to break her maiden debut by 5 3/4 lengths for trainer Ignacio Correas IV at Laurel Park in January. Tell a Great Story was third next out over that track in a 5 1/2-furlong optional claimer, then stretched out to 1 1/16 miles when shipping to Pimlico and just missing by a head in a similar contest on April 12. She finally broke through against winners a month later under those same conditions before going on to take the Go for Wand at Delaware in her prep for the Saturday's Oaks.
"She is doing well and we think she is going to make a good showing," Correas said. "We are going to do exactly what we did before the Go for Wand. We are going to ship in the day before the race. On the morning of the race, we are going to gallop and go to gate. She has been very good in the gate lately, and she has been very good shipping lately. She has had some problems with both in the past, but she has been handling both well. In her last two or three races, she has been very good, so we are going to just do what we have done with her recently with success."
Correas knows if she can run back to her Go for Wand performance, Tell a Great Story will be tough.
"Hopefully, she runs the same way and if she runs the same race, we know we are going to have a good chance," he remarked. "Her two workouts coming into this race have been good, and she is training very well. She has been getting better with every race, and I think that is because she is becoming more mature and focused.
"This is going to be a big step up for her, though. When you run for this kind of money with these stakes, it is never easy, so we are also looking at this as a chance to see where we are with this filly. We are very happy with where we are now and we will see where we are after the race. Hopefully, we will be a whole lot happier."
Ile St. Molly, who had 11 1/2 lengths to spare over Alli Leigh in the Go for Wand, was already a stakes winner heading into that race. The Ile St. Louis sophomore had captured Oaklawn Park's Lady Razorback Futurity during her two-year-old campaign, and earlier this year added that track's Rainbow Miss and Delaware Park's Our Mims to her resume.
"We have been trying to teach her to lay off the pace a little bit, but however it sets up, I think we can do either this time," trainer Kenny Smith said of his star pupil. "I think we can win on the lead or I think we can just set off the pace if we have to do it. I look for a good race out of her.
"She is easy and a pleasure to train. A lot of them will surprise you, and that is why you got to give them all a chance to run in these kind of races to see if they can handle it. Some of them handle it and some of them do not. I have had a bunch of horses in my career handle it, but I have had a whole lot more who have not. That is a part of the game. But I think this filly is special. I think she is going to run really well, and I do not think the mile-and-a-sixteenth will bother her one bit.
"In the Go for Wand, both of those fillies finished awfully strong with a pretty fast final quarter. My filly was a little aggressive down the backside, but we got outrun, and when you get outrun, you just go to the next race."
While all eyes will be on Tell a Great Story and Ile St. Molly, Maracuya could upset the apple cart following a fourth-placing in the Black-Eyed Susan on May 17. The Ralph Nicks trainee captured her initial two starts at Gulfstream Park in March and will have jockey Edgar Prado aboard for her second stakes try.
Also entered are Go for Wand third Alli Leigh; Broomsage, who was third in the Our Mims and fourth in the Go for Wand; and Dancing Afleet, winner of her last two by a combined 11 1/2 lengths.
Brisnet
Go to Race: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10
Delaware Park - Saturday, July 13, 2013
Race 8 - 4:45 PM STAKES Delaware Oaks (Grade II)
Purse $300,000. For Fillies Three Years Old. By subscription of $250 each, which shall accompany the nomination, $1,000 to enter and $1,500 to start. Supplemental nominations of $3,000 will be accepted at time of entry which shall include all other fees due as noted.$300,000 Guaranteed, of which $180,000 to the winner, $60,000 to second, $33,000 to third, $18,000 to fourth and $9,000 to fifth. Weight 122 Lbs. Non-Winners of $90,000 at a mile or over in 2013 allowed 2 Lbs., $60,000 at a mile or over in 2013, 4 Lbs., $45,000 at a mile or over in 2013, 6 Lbs. (Maiden, claiming and starter races not considered in estimating allowances). Starters to pass the entry box by the usual time of closing. Field limited to 14 starters. Preference to horses that have accumulated the highest total earnings. Horses that finished first, second or third in the Go For Wand Stakes automatically earned a free nomination to the Delaware Oaks. Trophy to the winning owner, trainer and jockey. One And One Sixteenth Miles.
PP Horse Virtual
Stable A/S Med Jockey Wgt Trainer
1 Alli Leigh (KY) 3/F L J Rose 116 S M Asmussen
2 Maracuya (KY) 3/F L E S Prado 116 R E Nicks
3 Diva Spirit (KY) 3/F L A Castellano, Jr. 116 O Aboughazale
4 Broomsage (VA) 3/F L S Bridgmohan 116 M R Matz
5 Makayla's Angel (KY) 3/F L M Rispoli 116 H G Motion
6 Maddy's Dance (PA) 3/F L J C Caraballo 116 J Rigattieri
7 Dancing Afleet (PA) 3/F L J Navarro 116 T F Ritchey
8 Ile St. Molly (AR) 3/F L A Cintron 116 K P Smith
9 Tell a Great Story (MD) 3/F L F Boyce 118 I Correas, IV
Owners: 1 - Millennium Farms ; 2 - T. C. Stable LLC and Martin, Johns ; 3 - Sumaya U.S. Stables ; 4 - Morgan's Ford Farm ; 5 - Debby M. Oxley ; 6 - Dennis J. Federico ; 7 - Tim F. Ritchey Racing Stables, Inc and Frazier, Beverly ; 8 - James H. Glover ; 9 - Sagamore Farm
Breeders: 1 - Millennium Farms; 2 - T/C Stable, LLC & Paul Pompa Jr.; 3 - International Equities Holding, Inc.; 4 - Morgan's Ford Farm; 5 - Debby Oxley; 6 - D. J. Federico; 7 - Barbara Brown & Chuck Zacney; 8 - James H. Glover; 9 - Sagamore Farm, LLC
Equibase