Bayakoa S. (G3) — Race 9 (6:12 p.m. ET)
Dual champion mare Monomoy Girl, coming off an undefeated comeback season which culminated in a second victory in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), will be a prohibitive favorite to beat five rivals in Sunday’s $250,000 Bayakoa S. (G3) at Oaklawn Park.
Although the 1 1/16-mile Bayakoa was delayed a couple weeks due to a recent spate of winter weather that pummeled Hot Springs and other locales, Monomoy Girl figures sharp enough after her training at Fair Grounds was uninterrupted.
The six-year-old by Tapizar has officially won 13 of 15 starts and was named champion at ages three and five while missing her entire four-year-old campaign due to infirmities. The Brad Cox trainee is co-high weight at 119 pounds and will have to concede only four pounds to most of her rivals in what will be her debut over the Oaklawn strip.
Multiple graded stakes winner Finite also totes 119 pounds. Victorious over older rivals in the Chilukki (G3) last November, the daughter of Munnings looks to rebound off a fourth-place finish as the favorite in the Dec. 26 La Brea (G1) at Santa Anita against fellow three-year-olds.
The Bayakoa field also includes graded performers Our Super Freak and Another Broad.
Dixie Belle S. — Race 6 (4:39 p.m. ET)
The field for the $150,000 Dixie Belle S., for three-year-old fillies at six furlongs includes the Steve Asmussen-trained Abrogate, who’s won both of her previous starts, including a Jan. 24 entry-level allowance over the track and distance.
The Brad Cox-trained Goin’ Good also enters 2-for-2, but will be trying dirt for the first time following wins on the grass at Indiana Grand and Fair Grounds. Windmill, a four-length debut winner in quick time for Larry Jones, should also attract support.
Among the stakes veterans in the lineup are Mariah’s Princess, a last-out second in the Letellier Memorial at Fair Grounds, and Heart Full of Soul, who defeated males in the Shakopee Juvenile at Canterbury last fall.
