3yo Fillies Diary

THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY DIARY

APRIL 20, 2005

by Hunter T. Houlihan

The Kentucky Oaks (G1) is just 16 days away and the contenders have begun to
separate themselves from the pretenders. Divisional leader SWEET CATOMINE’s
(Storm Cat) run against the boys in the April 9 Santa Anita Derby (G1) created
quite a stir when the bay ran fifth as the even-money favorite, and she was subsequently
taken out of Kentucky Derby (G1) consideration. Her connections never planned to
run her in the Oaks.

The April 9 Ashland S. (G1) drew seven of the top sophomore fillies in the
country, with SIS CITY (Slew City Slew) romping by 10 1/16 lengths in the 1
1/16-mile contest. The bay rated just off the speedy AMAZING BUY (High Yield) —
a former under-the-radar filly in this column — before taking over after six
furlongs and accelerating away from the field down the Keeneland homestretch.
The Richard Dutrow trainee easily rates this author’s selection as the Oaks
favorite, but the Oaks should not be considered a walkover after some of the
performances recorded by other talented three-year-olds since the last
installment.

The entire Ashland field is likely pointed towards the Oaks except Amazing
Buy, and both runner-up RUNWAY MODEL (Petionville) and third placer MEMORETTE
(Memo [Chi]) merit serious respect. Also not to be left out are Fair Grounds
Oaks (G2) heroine SUMMERLY (Summer Squall) and LETGOMYECHO (Menifee), who
suffered her first career defeat in the Ashland.

SHARP LISA (Dixieland Band) withdrew from the Ashland due to a bruised foot
and her connections decided instead to send her to Oaklawn Park for the April 15
Fantasy S. (G2), in which the chestnut was sent off as the even-money favorite.
She raced within striking distance, but had nothing left in the stretch and
finished a dull fourth, leaving many to believe she may not be the same filly
that won both the Las Virgenes S. (G1) and Santa Ynez S. (G2) earlier this year.

The John Servis-trained ROUND POND (Awesome Again) was the close second
choice in that contest and rewarded her backers with a 4 1/2-length triumph.
Unfortunately, Servis has said that he will skip the Oaks to run in the
Black-Eyed Susan (G2) on May 20 at Pimlico.

Another nice filly who also won’t be seen on May 6 is ACEY DEUCEY (Abaginone),
winner of the one-mile Comely S. (G2) at Aqueduct on April 16. Her conditioner,
John Morrison, stated that he will look for bigger targets on the East Coast
following the New York-bred’s impressive performance.

One of the more exciting races of the past two weeks was the seven-furlong
Beaumont S. (G2) at Keeneland. As if trainer Nick Zito did not have enough to
look forward to on the first weekend in May, he now has an Oaks contender with
IN THE GOLD (Golden Missle). The chestnut lass raced four wide throughout and
still had enough left to hold off a stubborn ASPEN TREE (Holy Bull) by 1 1/4
lengths and vault herself into the three-year-old filly top three.

Next time we’ll be breaking down the big race, which promises to be an
exciting edition of the Kentucky Oaks.