KY Oaks Field and Post Positions

[LaurieB]

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-....on-outside.aspx

Kentucky Oaks draws 12, Eight Belles on outside



Kentucky Oaks (G1)

$500,000, 1 1/8 miles, 3 yo f, Churchill Downs, May 2

Horse, jockey

1. Golden Doc A, Kent Desormeaux

2. Absolutely Cindy, Julien Leparoux

3. Awesome Chic, Robby Albarado

4. Elusive Lady, Eibar Coa

5. Rasierra, Jamie Theriot

6. Country Star, Rafael Bejarano

7. Little Belle, Rajiv Marav

8. Proud Spell, Gabriel Saez

9. A to the Croft, Calvin Borel

10. Bsharpsonata, Eric Camacho

11. Pure Clan, Edgar Prado

12. Eight Belles, Ramon Dominguez



So do you suppose this means we should expect to see Eight Belles in the Derby?

[Glimmerglass]

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-....on-outside.aspx
12. Eight Belles, Ramon Dominguez

So do you suppose this means we should expect to see Eight Belles in the Derby?

Ouch! Tounge in cheek on one of the blogs it was asked: what will Larry Jones do if Eight Belles gets the outside post in both races.

I suppose breaking from post 12 , against the girls, is far better then if she gets forced to "take" 20th against the boys. Everything will depend on what position she gets tomorrow.

[Texarkana]

There was a quote from Larry Jones in the Louisville Courier-Journal about the possibility of drawing the outside in both:

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080429/SPORTS08/80429013

“The signs are starting to come up from above about where we’re supposed to be,” Jones said. “That’s what we always said --- if we drew a bad hole in the Oaks and a good one in the Derby, then we know we’re supposed to run in the Derby. If we draw a good one in the Oaks and a bad one in the Derby, we’re supposed to be in the Oaks.”

So what happens if Eight Belles gets stuck with a bad spot in tomorrow’s draw for Derby starting positions?

“Then we’ll figure that Churchill Downs just doesn’t need us racing here,” Jones joked. “Nah, we can live with this 12 hole. It’s not the end of the world. We’ll take the 12 in Oaks over the 20 hole in the Derby. But we’re figuring for a better day tomorrow.”

So who does everyone like?

[LaurieB]

Signs from above??? Give me a break. I think God has better things to do than worry about where an unsporting owner/trainer should run their talented filly. :rolleyes:

I like Proud Spell, though I'd also love to see Country Star run back to last year's level.

[Barnfairy]

Awesome Chic has ties to my "hometown" track, Suffolk Downs...though that doesn't mean I'll be rooting for her connections. ;)

(taken from the cache of the News & Notes section on suffolkdowns.com (http://www.suffolkdowns.com/) before the site's recent massive overhaul):

NEW ENGLAND CHAMPION ON KENTUCKY OAKS TRAIL

Awesome Chic, the 2007 New England 2-year-old champion filly, stamped herself as a legitimate contender for the Grade 1 $500,000 Kentucky Oaks with an impressive score in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks on Saturday, March 15 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Awesome Chic won her career debut at Suffolk Downs on November 5 of last year by a whopping 17 ½ lengths under regular rider Irwin Rosendo. She shows three wins from five career starts, including two stakes victories, for earnings of over $180,000.

The 3-year-old Awesome Again filly is owned by Aurora Springs Stable, and trained by Rafael Ramos. The New England Turf Writers Association honored Ramos in 2007, naming him the Gerry Sullivan Memorial Award winner for outstanding trainer in the region.

Aurora Springs Stable enjoyed plenty of success at Suffolk Downs is 2007 as well, saddling 38 winners to earn the title of leading owner.

[Glimmerglass]

One of those little known facts: the big filly Eight Belles is actually named after a painting by N.C. Wyeth which is named after an estate in Maine that belonged to Winslow Homer. Albeit the house is Eight Bells

Philadelphia Inquirer 4-29-08 "For horse owner, racing imitates art" (http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/horse_racing/20080429_For_horse_owner__racing_imitates_art.html )

Referring to her impressive size, her trainer, Larry Jones, has called her an "equine Wilt Chamberlain."

"I think it's a lot of fun," said artist Jamie Wyeth, who has seen several well-bred Porter horses named for his more acclaimed works. The Wyeth family jokes about looking for a cut of the action, maybe a breeding right.

"It's a big joke, going around and around," said Phyllis Wyeth, Jamie's wife, who follows Porter's horses closely and attended last year's Breeders' Cup to root for Hard Spun, the Porter-owned colt that finished second in the Breeders' Cup Classic. "I keep telling him, 'I better start calling the Jockey Club now if you're going to steal all these names.' "

Eight Belles, who will run in either the Derby or in Friday's Kentucky Oaks for fillies, is named in homage to the Maine home of artist N.C. Wyeth, Andrew's late father, the preeminent illustrator of his generation. Eight Bells itself was named for a famous Winslow Homer painting, and N.C. Wyeth also named one of his own paintings Eight Bells, family members said.

Porter, who made his money selling cars, said he planned to give the name Eight Bells to a top colt, but decided it was right for a filly he was excited about, with the female twist added.

At this point, Wyeth family members have even suggested names to Porter. Andrew Wyeth's wife, Betsy, who names most of her husband's paintings, suggested one recently that Porter plans to use. Look for Maga's Daughter on the track a few years from now. Porter also named one of his horses Matinicus after a Jamie Wyeth painting Porter had purchased.

Interesting side bit:

Many of the Wyeths plan to watch Eight Belles this week, ready to root for the filly - and give Porter more of a hard time. Jamie Wyeth recalls how the legendary ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, the subject of an acclaimed series of paintings by Jamie, talked to him about the horse Nureyev, who turned out to be one of the top sires of the 20th century.

"He said he never got so much as a horseshoe of that horse," Jamie Wyeth said, joking about how "we're putting Porter in the company of those people. Rick's taken all the great names."

[Texarkana]

Hmmm... I didn't know that. I'm a huge Wyeth fan, so that's a plus in my book.

The other Belle... Little Belle... is looking very good right now. Especially at 8-1 ML odds. She did beat pretty much the rest of the field last time out, although that was over that darned polytrack stuff. ;)

[dressagetraks]

Bsharpsonata purely on name. I'm into music myself.

Since I'm tossing Big Brown from my Derby pics purely on (lack of) name, I'll pick in the Oaks purely on nifty name.

We'll see how it works out, but I've heard of stupider systems than that around the track. ;)

[Glimmerglass]

Past Performances for the Oaks Field:

Equibase/NTRA $500k Kentucky Oaks Field (http://ntra.equibase.com/eqbNTRAGetFreeFF.cfm?trk=CD&rd=05/02/2008&cty=USA&de=D&rn=10)

Proud Spell, Larry Jone's other filly, will likely still go off as the favorite. Country Star could edge up but that flop in the Ashland Stakes has folks doubting. Pure Clan could do very well as she likes the distance and did very well against Eight Belles in her last effort.

Official 134th Kentucky Oaks website (http://www.kentuckyoaks.com/2008/) with video, et al

ESPN2 will carry the race live during their coverage of 5 p.m. ET - 6 p.m.; the actual race is slated for 5:45 pm ET

[Glimmerglass]

It is very sloppy there at Churchill Downs with the rains still pouring down. I don't think they'll get the 100k sized crowds they have in recent years for the Oaks. To make it worse CD rules are such that NO umbrellas are allowed whatsoever.

5-year old Ginger Punch looked wonderful in her 5+/- length victory in the $300,000 Louisville Stakes (G2) this afternoon. In fact she had so much go that she was clearly jumping the puddles in her stretch drive to the finish line.

[Glimmerglass]

Just putting it out there, my picks:

Pure Clan
Absolutely Cindy
A To the Croft

[Kenike]

I have to say that I think Proud Spell is just a very pretty filly.

[JDufort]

wins!

[Texarkana]

W00t w00t Proud Spell! :)

No excuses for Country Star, yet again...

[LaurieB]

Great race for Proud Spell and equally great ride by her jockey.