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Casse's Spring at Last fillies highlight OBS Day of Champions Spring comes early to Ocala as graded winners Spring in the Air and Spring Venture headline the $100,000 OBS Championship Stakes as OBS holds its 24th annual Day of Champions race card on Monday. The four races, for three-year-olds who have gone through the ring at an OBS sale, offer purses totaling $300,000 and will be streamed live via the OBS website at obssales.com. Post time for the first race is 1 p.m. (EST). Trainer Mark Casse will saddle both daughters of Spring at Last in 1 1/16-mile OBS Championship Stakes for fillies, the third race on the card. Spring in the Air's juvenile campaign was highlighted by her victory in the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland. The bay miss was last seen running fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies under Patrick Husbands, who also rode her in the Alcibiades and retains the mount on Monday. Spring Venture, supplemented to the race by Casse for owners Gary Barber and Stoneway Farm LLC, beat Spring in the Air last fall in the Grade 2 Natalma at Woodbine then returned to score in the Grade 3 Mazarine. She made her sophomore bow in the Grade 2 Forward Gal at Gulfstream Park on January 26, running fifth that day, and have Luis Saez in the saddle for the first time on Monday. The afternoon's final race will be the $100,000 OBS Championship Stakes for colts and geldings at 1 1/16 miles. The race drew a field of nine, headed by Grade 3 runner-up Brown Almighty, winner of the Sunny's Halo on turf at Louisiana Downs last summer. The first stakes winner for sire Big Brown, he ships in for trainer Tim Ice and will be ridden by Terry Thompson off a pair of unplaced stakes runs at Oaklawn Park. Casse sends out Grade 2-placed Indiano Jones and stakes runner-up Sky Commander while Uptown Anthem, on the board in three stakes at Calder at two, ships in for trainer Bill Kaplan. Joining them in the starting gate will be the War Front colt Jack Milton, who was supplemented to the race by trainer Todd Pletcher off a good second in his most recent race at Gulfstream Park. Stakes winners Cor Cor and Leinan get top billing in the first race on the card, the $50,000 OBS Sprint Stakes for fillies at six furlongs. Cor Cor comes in off a 4 1/4-length victory in the Battle of New Orleans on the turf at Fair Grounds. The Florida-bred filly by Smoke Glacken, a supplemental entry, suffered her only defeat when second to the highly regarded Kauai Katie in Gulfstream's Grade 3 Old Hat on New Year's Day. Leinan ended her juvenile campaign in style with a win in Woodbine's Glorious Song in mid-November. However, the Kentucky-bred Ready's Image filly was sixth in the Sweetest Chant at Gulfstream to start the year and will attempt to rebound on Monday for trainer Josie Carroll. Seven will go in the six-furlong, $50,000 OBS Sprint Stakes for colts and geldings, headed by Mind Spell, third last out in a sharp effort in a Tampa Bay Downs allowance. For more information regarding the OBS Championship Stakes, please call 352-237-2154 or visit the OBS website at obssales.com. Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
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