Infinite possibilities in the Fair Grounds Oaks
By: Laurie Ross, Pedigree Power
This week, the Fair Grounds Oaks is the first race in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks qualifying
series to offer a tiered scale of 100-40-20-020 points. Six 3-year-old fillies
will contest 1 1/16-mile the Grade 2 event.
Let’s review the field.
Overwhelming favorite
FINITE (Munnings - Remit, by Tapit) is undefeated in five
starts. She can sit anywhere in the pack and still make her run. The Steve
Asmussen trainee defeated year’s champion 2-year-old filly, British Idiom in
the Rachel Alexandra (G2) by 4 3/4 lengths, and could have won by more.
Could have a say
BONNY SOUTH (Munnings - Touch the Star, by Tapit) is
bred on the same cross as Finite, and she could be just as talented. In her
last start, the Brad Cox trainee wore down Shedaresthedevil in an
Allowance Optional Claiming event at Oaklawn. That one returned to capture the
Honeybee Stakes (G3).
ANTOINETTE (Hard Spun - Shuruq, by Elusive Quality) proved
that she’s just as adept over the dirt as she is the turf when she captured the
off the turf Tepin Stakes at Aqueduct. The daughter of UAE Oaks heroine Shuruq
sat behind the pace and faced a wall of horses in the stretch. She pushed
through a narrow opening on the rail to beat even-money favorite I Dare U by
three-quarters length.
TEMPERS RISING (Bayern - Marchmont, by Mountain Cat)
tangled with Finite in their last two starts. She just missed in the Silverbulletday
Stakes but had nothing to offer in her second start of the season in the Rachael Alexandra (G2) after a wide trip. The
Dallas Stewart trainee has finished off the board only once but has only a
maiden win to her credit. Note that maiden victory was over a sloppy track, and
an off-track could level the playing field.
May be out-classed
Last out maiden winner STOP SHOPPIN TAMMY (Tapit -
Miss Shop, by Deputy Minister) moves way up in class and adds first time Lasix.
The pretty gray filly could have the class to face this group since she’s a full
sister to Tin Type Gal, winner of the Boling Springs (G3), and
Miss Grillo (G3). Their dam is a Grade 1-winning half-sister to Tapiture,
and another half-sister bore Grade 1 winner Power Broker.
FRENCH ROSE (Raison d'Etat - Catlanta, by Medaglia
d'Oro) is the most experienced filly in the field with ten starts under her
girth. The distance-challenged miss has been fighting with $40,000 optional
claimers in California, not always successfully.
Selections
Could we see an exacta including two similarly bred
daughters of Munnings? It’s unusual, but
not out of the realm of probability. ANTOINETTE could mess up that
exacta though, as could TEMPERS RISING if she bounces back.
#6 FINITE (3/5)
#1 ANTOINETTE (12/1)
#4 BONNY SOUTH (4/1)
#3 TEMPERS RISING (9/2)
Handigambling
What do you do in a race with an overwhelming favorite?
Well, don’t go Bridge Jumping! A Bridge jumper
is a player who slaps a large place or show bet on the heavy favorite. This
causes oversize payoffs on the other horses if the favorite doesn’t win. It can be risky in small overmatched fields.
Your best bet is to either:
a) skip the wager
and enjoy the race or
b) box the favorite with those most likely to hit the
board.
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