Sittin at the Bar could be sitting on a big race in the Spring Fever

Sittin at the Bar could be sitting on a big race in the
Spring Fever

Sittin at the Bar (outside) will try for her first win outside of Louisiana in the Spring Fever (Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography) Sittin at the Bar returns to Oaklawn for the first time since her fifth-place finish in last March’s 1 1/16-mile Honeybee Stakes, but there are compelling reasons to expect she’ll fare much better in Saturday’s $100,000 Spring Fever Stakes. Although the four-year-old Louisiana-bred filly is taking on older mares in open company, she is undefeated at the 5 1/2-furlong distance of the race and is riding a two-race win streak. “I like the surface at Oaklawn for her and sprinting fits her,” explained Fair Grounds-based trainer Brett Brinkman, who conditions the filly for owner P. Dale Ladner. “We’ve turned her into a sprinter, which is where she wanted to end up as she got older.” Sittin at the Bar, a $30,000 yearling purchase, has bankrolled $666,896 in 17 starts and among her 10 wins are eight stakes victories in her home state of Louisiana. She can get to the wire first, whether contesting the pace, rating kindly, or coming from behind. “She’s very, very versatile,” Brinkman continued. “At Delta (Downs) we had to (place her closer to the pace) going five-eighths to give her the ultimate opportunity to get the job done. You wanted to be pretty close there. She’s capable of doing that or she’s capable of sitting off of it. It’s just a matter of what everybody has to throw at her.”

Brinkman will be making the drive to Oaklawn to saddle the
filly, who was scheduled to arrive on the grounds Thursday evening. There is no
mistaking she’s the favorite horse in his barn.

“She’s been an unbelievable joy for me to have and for Mr. Ladner, and the whole crew,” he said.
“Everything you see on paper, she’s that
much in person. She’s the barn pet, but when she gets cranked up and ready to
run, you can definitely tell the difference in her.

“She’s just an absolute doll
to be around and a real pleasure to train. She’s the most accomplished horse
I’ve trained. I’ve been very lucky in my short career to have some nice horses,
and I’ve been around some really nice horses, some millionaires, and I broke a
lot of nice horses, but I never went to the races with them.”

Should Sittin at the Bar be victorious on Saturday against her eight rivals, it will be her first open company
stakes win.

“There always is a little concern about open company, but
I’m proud of the fact that she’s an accredited Louisiana-bred,” Brinkman said. “She has the numbers and she has the ability to compete in open company at a
high level. I’m just hoping she has good luck Saturday and can show who she
really is. She’s just a runner.”

In addition to Sittin at the Bar, the Spring Fever features the
seven-year-old mare Beat the Blues, who figures to improve in her
second start off an eight-month layoff. Heroine of the Winning Colors last May,
the bay daughter of Great Pyramid faded to eighth in the American Beauty on
January 25 in her initial start off the bench.

Also exiting the American Beauty
are that race’s runner-up Boss Barney’s Babe, third-placer Ms Anna Destiny and
fourth-placer Hurricane Girl. Soft Whisper enters the Spring Fever off a
sharp 10-1 upset against allowance company at Oaklawn in late January, while Aireofdistinction
also had a winning allowance prep over the track on January 18.

Completing the Spring Fever field are Chortle and Mysterious Chimes.

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