Grace Hall faces six in Delaware Oaks; Bubbly Jane tops
Robert G. Dick
Grade 1 heroine Grace Hall tops a field of seven sophomore fillies entered in
Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000
Delaware
Oaks at Delaware Park.
In her most recent start, the locally-based daughter of Empire Maker — who
broke her maiden at Delaware Park in her career debut on July 11, 2011 —
finished third in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 4. The
winner of the Kentucky Oaks, Believe You Can, and the second-place finisher,
Broadway’s Alibi, also broke their maidens at Delaware Park in 2011.
“It really is a small world, I mean who would have thought the three fillies
that broke their maidens at Delaware Park would have come back the following
year and ran one-two-three in the Kentucky Oaks,” said Grace Hall’s trainer,
Tony Dutrow. “It is a small world.
“In the Kentucky Oaks, we did not have any excuses. She went into the race
very well and obviously she ran well against the best fillies in training.”
Grace Hall captured the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks by 6 1/2 lengths in late
March and, in her only other outing this year, finished second in the Grade 2
Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream in late February. In her most recent workout,
the bay miss breezed four furlongs at Delaware in :47 on Sunday in preparation
for this 1 1/16-mile event.
“Grace Hall is doing great,” Dutrow added. “She could not be doing better. We
feel she is coming into the Oaks in excellent shape in every way. She was very
impressive in her last workout on Sunday.”
Grace Hall followed her maiden win at Delaware last year with a victory in
the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga, a win in the Blue Hen Stakes back at Delaware
and a second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs.
Among those Grace Hall will face Saturday is fellow Dutrow trainee Wicked
Mizz. That Florida-bred gray ran second in the Limit Stakes at Aqueduct in her
stakes debut in March, then returned to notch a 2 1/4-length score in the Go For
Wand, the local prep for the Delaware Oaks, on June 9.
While Dutrow wasn’t surprised by the Mizzen Mast filly’s effort in the Go For
Wand Stakes, he was caught off guard by her $16.20 payout price.
“We thought Wicked Mizz was improving and was going to run a good race that
day,” he said. “She had good form, she was lightly raced, but I am not sure why
she did not have more bet on her.”
After the Delaware Oaks both Grace Hall and Wicked Mizz could be pointed for
stakes at Saratoga later this summer.
“If everything goes as planned, Grace Hall will point for the (Grade 1)
Alabama (on August 18) at Saratoga,” Dutrow explained. “As far as Wicked Mizz,
she has a lot to prove, and we are hopeful she will.”
Jerry Hollendorfer, who won the 2010 Delaware Oaks and the 2011 Grade 2
Delaware Handicap with champion Blind Luck, has entered Via Villaggio for
Saturday’s contest.
After 11 starts in California, the Delaware Oaks will be the East Coast debut
for the daughter of Bernardini, who ran third in the Grade 2 Hollywood Oaks in
her most recent effort. The Kentucky-bred filly previously won the Grade 3
Railbird Stakes on Hollywood Park’s Cushion Track.
“She seems to be coming around now and she has run nice races in her last
two,” Hollendorfer remarked. “Her last two races were on artificial surfaces,
but we want to try her on the dirt. I would rather try her on the dirt instead
of the turf. Most of the races for her at Del Mar would be on the turf, as
matter of fact of all of them.
“I know we are meeting a tough filly (Grace Hall), but I wanted to try Via
Villaggio in this spot. The timing and the conditions fits with what I want to
do with her now. So if she does run well on the dirt, then it would open up a
lot more options for her.”
Other contenders in the Delaware Oaks are Aubby K, a dark bay daughter of
Street Sense who was third in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes last out; and Grade
2-placed stakes victress Amie’s Dini, a Bandini filly who is exiting an
eighth-place run in the Kentucky Oaks.
One race earlier on Delaware Park’s Saturday card, Bubbly Jane rates as the
slight favorite in the Grade 3, $200,000
Robert G. Dick Memorial going 1 3/8-miles on the turf.
Bubbly Jane ran second, beaten 3 3/4-lengths, in the Robert G. Dick Memorial
last year, but the seven-year-old daughter of Yagil has made only two starts
since then. The Todd Pletcher-trained mare, who is a dual Group 1 winner in her
native Brazil, was unplaced in the Omnibus Stakes at Monmouth Park in September
and, in her only outing this year, ran second by a length in the Mohegan Sky
Stakes at Belmont Park on June 16.
Senada, the possible second choice in the eight-distaffer field, will be
returning off a third-place effort in the Grade 3 Bewitch at Keeneland on April
26. Previously, the five-year-old daughter of Pulpit ran seventh in the Grade 3
Orchid Handicap at Gulfstream on March 31.
Starting off the stakes action at Delaware on Saturday will be the $50,000
Oh Say
Stakes sending seven three-year-olds six furlongs.
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