Jones hoping to strike with Divine Dawn in Beaumont

Sweet Success set the pace into the Bourbonette Oaks stretch before just missing on the wire (Turfway Park/Coady Photography)

Having opened Keeneland’s 2015 spring meet with Lovely Maria (Majesticperfection)
taking the Ashland S. (G1), trainer Larry Jones will attempt to nab a Grade 2 on
Sunday when he sends out Divine Dawn in the 30th running of the $250,000

Beaumont S.

The seven-furlong Beaumont is the last race in the Road to the Kentucky Oaks
series of contests that offer points toward a starting berth in the Run for the
Lilies. However, the Beaumont only awards points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the top
four so there is little chance, barring multiple defections, that anyone from
the race will make the Oaks.

Divine Dawn is nominated to the Kentucky Oaks, but has been unable to earn
any points thus far this season. The gray lass took her maiden debut at
Keeneland last fall before closing out her juvenile campaign with another score,
this time on Fair Grounds’ turf course in an allowance/optional claimer.

One month later Divine Dawn took on stakes rivals in the Silverbulletday but
found stablemate I’m a Chatterbox (Munnings) just too good and finished a
well-beaten fifth. She followed up with two more grass races, running second on
each occasion including the Allen LaCombe Memorial S., at Fair Grounds.

“I was trying to get a race in her before the Silverbulletday and the turf
was the only race that would fill,” Jones said. “After that we thought that
maybe she is not as good as I’m a Chatterbox and Lovely Maria, so that’s why we
are trying the Beaumont.

“She does not mind the turf; she has won on it, but Bernie Flint kept
beating me (with Mizz Money [Mizzen Mast], who is entered in the $125,000
Appalachian S. [G3] earlier on the program). We are thinking that one turn might
be her game. With a little luck Sunday, we will look at the ($200,000) Eight
Belles ([G3] on the Oaks undercard, May 1).”

First though, Divine Dawn and regular rider Kerwin Clark will have to face
six rivals in the Beaumont, including Sweet Success (Candy Ride) and Harlan’s
Destiny (Harlan’s Holiday). Those two fillies are the only ones in the Beaumont
field currently listed on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard.

Sweet Success earned her spot, currently #22, with a close second-place run
in her stakes debut, the Bourbonette Oaks (G3) on March 21 at Turfway Park.
Harlan’s Destiny was fourth in that same race to garner five points, but
presently is #29 and last on the Oaks leaderboard. Harlan’s Destiny actually did
pretty well before the Bourbonette Oaks, boasting a four-race win streak that
included three state-bred stakes victories.