American Oaks to be battle of locals

ARCADIA, Calif. – The $300,000 American Oaks at Santa Anita on Saturday will largely be an affair for locals.

Track officials said transport issues prevented a few possible runners based on the East Coast from being sent to California for the Oaks, a Grade 1 race for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/4 miles on turf. As a result, the leading contenders are fillies who have excelled on this circuit throughout the year.

The candidates include Stays in Vegas, who was third in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes against older fillies and mares at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Dec. 4; Mokat, who won the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at Del Mar in July and was fifth in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland on Oct. 15; and Decked Out, who was second in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in August.

Decked Out was last of 12 in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf against older fillies and mares here Oct. 1, her most recent start. Decked Out raced in traffic in early stretch and was beaten 5 3/4 lengths by race winner Avenge.

In April, Decked Out won the Grade 3 Providencia Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf for 3-year-old fillies. Trainer Keith Desormeaux thinks the distance of the American Oaks will suit Decked Out.

“I think that will be more to her liking,” Desormeaux said this week. “She’s trained that way.”

This is the first year the American Oaks has been run in December. The race was launched at Hollywood Park in 2002 and was transferred to Santa Anita in 2014 after Hollywood Park’s closure in 2013. The race was previously run in late spring or summer and has been moved to the end of the year to give it its own place on the national calendar.