Princess of Sylmar reigns in CCA Oaks

Princess of Sylmar and Castellano were content to run in

the back of the tightly packed field through opening marks of :24 3/5 and :49

4/5 set by My Happy Face. Unlimited Budget, Cue the Moon and Marathon Lady were

all keeping in close attendances behind the pacesetter, but it was the latter

who took up the challenge when Princess of Sylmar made her move entering the

turn.

Those two ranged up to the outside of My Happy Face, with Princess of Sylmar

going best of all to take command. The chestnut filly merely extended her margin

from there, crossing under the wire in a final time of 1:51 over the good dirt.

"I

thought she was always traveling really well. There wasn't a lot of pace in

there and they were tightly bunched," Pletcher said. "We made a mistake (when

finishing second) in the Gazelle when we

felt like Close Hatches was the only speed. We kind of took her out of her

running style, so I told Javier regardless of the pace, don't do

that, just let her find her rhythm. I think she's got a very strong closing kick

regardless of the fractions; just let her do her thing."

My Happy Face couldn't withstand Princess of Sylmar, but had more than enough

to take second by 1 3/4 lengths over Marathon Lady.

"I

thought she ran great," said My Happy Face's trainer, Chad Brown. "I thought

(jockey) Joel (Rosario) rode a flawless race. If you had

told me in the paddock I was going to get away with a :48 and change half, I

would have said, 'Sign me up.' (Rosario) did everything he needed to

do -- he made the lead, he held the lead, he slowed everyone down. She was

second-best today. I'm real proud of the way she ran."

Cue the Moon came next with

Unlimited Budget completing the order under the wire, beaten a total of 15

lengths by her stablemate.

"It all kind of went wrong at the

break," Pletcher stated about Unlimited Budget. "She missed the break completely and

(jockey) Johnny (Velazquez) had to hustle her

into a spot on the inside, and it just all went wrong right at the start. We

were anticipating being in a close stalking position with her, and that all went

wrong."

"She didn't break, and as soon as

she didn't break, that was it. Over," Velazquez remarked. "I was stuck on the inside and she didn't

want to run in there at all."

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.

The chestnut filly made her sophomore, and stakes, bow in the Busanda on

January 5, posting a 7 1/2-length tally on that day, and closed out her inner

meet run with a seven-length triumph in the Busher. Despite those easy wins

Princess of Sylmar was sent off the 3-2 second choice behind Close Hatches in

the Gazelle, and wound up second to that wire-to-wire winner in her first

attempt at 1 1/8 miles.

Princess of Sylmar was ready for some revenge on May 3 at Churchill Downs and

captured the Kentucky Oaks by a half-length at 38-1 odds. She now boasts a 6-1-0

mark from eight starts and joined the millionaire's club on Saturday when the

winner's share from the CCA Oaks boosted her career earnings to $1,007,220.

"We kept her in New York; it was a conscious decision," Pletcher

remarked. "We

had a choice to make in February whether to bring her down to Florida. We

certainly thought she was good enough, but she was doing so well and had such a

good rhythm, we came up with a game plan and we stuck to it.

"Honestly, people

who were maybe at Aqueduct this winter were more impressed than the people who

don't pay close attention to Aqueduct in the winter. So, maybe even though they

were not really against the best fillies in the country, they were very

impressive performances.

"I think everyone kind of lost sight of the fact that

going into the Kentucky Oaks, it was billed as the best Oaks we've seen in 25

years, this filly wins it and gets virtually no respect. I think today she put

herself at the top of the leader board, and now everyone understands that the

Kentucky Oaks was a real race."

Princess of Sylmar is the first registered foal out of the stakes-placed

Catienus mare Storm Dixie, who is a half-sister to Group 3 victor Rhythm Band

and Grade 3-placed Musical.

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