Princess of Sylmar shocks Kentucky Oaks at 38-1

Princess of Sylmar (purple silks) overtook Beholder to upset the Kentucky Oaks at 38-1 (Jim Tyrrell/Horsephotos.com)

Princess of Sylmar had a four-race win streak broken
when second to Close Hatches in the Gazelle at Aqueduct on April 6, but avenged
the loss against that rival, as well as eight other top-notch runners, when
capturing the Grade 1, $1 million
Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs.

With Mike Smith aboard, the Majestic Warrior filly came a bit wide around the
final turn and ran down juvenile champion filly Beholder to finish up nine
furlongs on the fast dirt in 1:49 in front of a 113,820 strong crowd, the second
largest in Oaks Day history.

“It was
extremely rough leaving there. We got banged around pretty good but she settled
right into stride,” Smith said. “After that, I just rode her like Todd had told me to, to be
honest with you. They thought they had moved a little early last time out and to
really be patient. And when you think it’s time to move, maybe even be a little
more patient. It really worked out great.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher had four fillies entered in the race, but it was 38-1
longshot Princess of Sylmar who got the victory over her much more heralded stablemate
and 3-2 favorite Dreaming of Julia to return $79.60, $29.40 and $14 in the
second biggest upset in Oaks history.

Princess of Sylmar came wide around the turn to power home a winner in Oaks 139 (Jim Tyrrell/Horsephotos.com)

Midnight Lucky took up pacesetting duties when the gates opened, with
Beholder and Unlimited Budget taking up stalking duties to her outside through
splits of :22 4/5, :46 3/5 and 1:11 1/5. Silsita was saving ground on the rail
to Unlimited Budget’s inside, but Princess of Sylmar bided her time near
the rear of the field.

Midnight Lucky started to tire following her front-running duties, leaving
the way clear for Beholder to take command in the stretch. That temperamental
filly, who dumped jockey Garrett Gomez right before the gate, briefly appeared a
clear winner but Princess of Sylmar was coming fast down the center of the
track. The chestnut miss easily passed the Eclipse Award winner to earn her
first graded victory in only her second try.

“She ran
great and I’m proud of her. But she might have lost this race in the post
parade,” trainer Richard Mandella praised Beholder. “She was so full of herself and so wanting to go, that she was a handful
in the parade and she gave the pony a heck of a time. Oh, well.

“At home, we can
get her to settle down, but here — with all the people — it was a different
story. But she ran well and we’re proud.”

“She lost it in
the post parade. I knew that might jeopardize her performance a little bit,”
Gomez agreed.
“After everything that happened, she still ran a tremendous race. Better than to
be expected after the antics she pulled in the post parade. She almost fell down
and rolled in the post parade and lost it going to the gate.

“After she got up on
her feet leaving the gate and settled nicely, turning for home she
put the other filly away in a heartbeat. If she didn’t pull those antics in the
post parade, she might have had a chance to win.”

Princess of Sylmar got the jump on her stablemate Dreaming of Julia (yellow) in the Oaks stretch (Jim Tyrrell/Horsephotos.com)

“She lost it out of the gate,” he added about Dreaming of Julia. “She got
creamed coming out of there and it is hard to overcome that sort of thing. She
tried hard to make it up and I thought she ran very courageously. But it was too
much to ask.”

“That
did it all, right from the start. She got pinched out of there and the race was
over,” jockey John Velazquez affirmed about Dreaming of Julia.

“She still ran a great race. I saved all the ground I could and try to give
myself a chance to win the race. She made a nice run but it was too much ground
to make up. The first jump she didn’t break very good and the horse next to me
bounced her and then she sucked out of there. And that was it. You’re done.”

Princess of Sylmar opened her career for owner/breeder Ed Stanco’s King of
Prussia Stable with a fourth-placing at Penn National
last October, and stayed at that venue to break her maiden by 19 lengths in
early November. Pletcher shipped the Pennsylvania-bred miss to Aqueduct for her
juvenile finale, and Princess of Sylmar came up with a 5 1/4-length score over
the inner dirt.