OAKLAWN PARK NOTEBOOK
APRIL 5, 2007
by Mark Weatherton
As a prelude to the Racing Festival of the South which begins Friday, three
stakes races were run this past weekend.
Of the seven distaffers in Saturday’s Carousel S., three were making their 2007 debut off
layoffs of several months. One of these, multiple stakes winner Wildcat Bettie B
(Meadowlake), was established as the overwhelming wagering favorite, however, it
was the lightly regarded MISS MACY SUE (Trippi), who was also coming off a long layoff, that dominated the field.
The Kelly Von Hemel-trained, Miss Macy Sue tracked the pace set by True Tails
(Yes It’s True) through the first five furlongs before sweeping to the lead. The
four-year-old dark brown filly simply ran away
from the competition under the urging of Eddie Razo, earning her first black type victory by a margin of
six lengths over a track rated as wet-fast. The second longest shot in the
field, she rewarded her backers with $24.40 win tickets. Even though she had not
raced in five months, Miss Macy Sue showed a series of seven bullet works over the grounds
starting in February.
True Tails was a clear second, while Wildcat Bettie B just hit the board with
a determined late run, ending up a neck ahead of Country Diva (Songandaprayer).
The front four were followed by Tax Refund (Artax), Miss Elsie (Golden
Gear) and Morner (Broken Vow).
Friday’s Rainbow Miss S. for three-year-old Arkansas-bred fillies attracted a field of
eight. The odds-on favorite and eventual winner RITA KATRINA (Storm and a Half)
held a class edge on the field as the only two-time winner and had beaten
several in the field when she captured the Lady Razorback Futurity S. at
Louisiana Downs previously.
Round Rock Road (Cornish
Snow) got the jump on her when taking the early lead, but she was quickly chased down by Everything’s Rosie
(Storm and a Half), Storm Countess (Storm and a Half) and Ile St. Jaycee (Ile
St. Louis [Chi]). Those four ran the backstretch and most of the far turn four
abreast. Larry Sterling placed Rita Katrina along the rail, saving ground,
and when no opening materialized in the front four, Sterling swung the chestnut
filly five wide in an effort to find running room for the final drive. Coming
out of the turn, she had only one left to beat, Ile St. Jaycee, and eventually pulled away to a
1 1/2-length win.
Late-charging Abby the Great (Albert The Great) used a strong finish to get up for third. Round Rock Road held fourth
and was followed by Everything’s Rosie, Maggie’s Drawers (Country Store), Storm
Countess and Roarin Heart (Smouldrin Heart).
The companion stakes for Arkansas-bred three-year-olds, the Rainbow, completed
the weekend with a longshot winner as ELITE ETBAUER (Etbauer) paid a hefty $40 to win. The bay gelding had looked very impressive breaking his maiden in
January with a big sweeping move from the back, but that was followed by two dull
efforts that found the closer losing ground at the end. He was given little
chance here as four of the five rivals had beaten him last out.
The early pace was set by Humble Smarty (Mutakddim), who was closely followed by Cinnamonsluckypic
(Cinnamon Creek) and Course (Certain). Cinnamonsluckypic forged ahead as the other two began to fade, but could not fight off the strong close of Elite Etbauer. Seth Martinez had
taken the winner to the back and waited to make one big run at the end.
Cinnamonsluckypic fought gamely to hold second from another hard charger,
Eagle Town (Unbridled’s Risk). Stormin Steve (Storm and a Half) was fourth and
followed by Humble Smarty and Course.
The musical suspension game continues as now it is John Jacinto who is left
without a “chair” or saddle as he serves a current suspension. Luis Quinonez has
returned and booted home several winners to gain a first place tie with Jacinto.
They’ve rode 41 winners with eight more racing days ahead. Calvin Borel is
third with 38, and Eddie Razo has 31.
Steve Asmussen continues to lead the conditioners with 26. Jorge Lara is
second with 18 and Chris Richard is next with 16 wins.
Looking ahead, the $250,000 Fantasy S. (G2) for three-year-old fillies is carded Friday. Two
$500,000 chances are slated for Saturday, the Oaklawn H.
(G2) for older runners and the Apple Blossom H. (G1) for older fillies and mares. No
racing is scheduled for Easter Sunday. The Racing Festival will continue the
following Wednesday.
HORSES TO WATCH
Wednesday (3/28)
10TH – SAMBA G (Liginsky) had made one previous start, a sprint on the
turf, and did not show much. She tried dirt and two turns for the first time
and turned in a solid race, using a late move to get second and just missing the win by
a neck against a pretty sound field of maiden special weight rivals.
Thursday (3/29)
2ND – BEAUTIFUL RAINBOWS (Salt Lake), a Joe Martin trainee, continued her
pattern of one good race followed by a bad one, winning easily against a nice starter allowance
field. She had had turned in a dull showing in her previous start as the
favorite. Look
for her in her start after next.
8TH – Padua Stables’ GLEAMING ELEGANCE (High Yield), who had not won since May, jumped on the lead and rolled to meet best 5 1/2-furlong time of 1:03 4/5.
She looks to be returning to the top form that she displayed last spring.
Saturday (3/31)
4TH – LEGENDARY TRAITORS (Louis Quatorze) dueled through fast early fractions
only to have a deep closer sweep by late. She should be tough next time in her fourth
start off a layoff.
6TH – VARIANCE (Chester House), following two ugly outings at Hawthorne last fall, moved to a new barn and woke up with a strong second in his first try around two
turns. The well-bred colt should moved forward off of this effort.
7TH – POCKET BANDIT (Time Bandit) started the meet by breaking her maiden at
the bottom level , then rose to $25K claiming level. She jumped to
an entry level allowance here and was beaten only a length. The in-form filly will be
tough next out.
Sunday (4/1)
4TH – ZENIA’S STORM (Storm and a Half) seemed to put it all together in
her third career start. She rated well just behind the pace and moved between horses
to the lead after straightening for home and drew away, winning by more than four
lengths.