Arapahoe Park: Renee's Passion goes long in Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders Oaks

Renee’s Passion should start as a strong favorite in the mile and 70-yard Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders Oaks at Arapahoe Park on Saturday, even though she has never raced at two turns. She is already a stakes winner over the local oval, she gets pedigree support for the race’s distance, and she owns the field’s best recent Beyer Speed Figures.

The $40,000 CTBA Oaks, which is restricted to 3-year-old fillies bred in Colorado, drew a field of eight. Others set to start include She’s All Bling, a stakes winner last year at 2, and Runnin Riann, a half-sister to five-time stakes winner E F Five.

Renee’s Passion won a division of last year’s Silver Cup Futurity at Arapahoe, defeating open company when she darted to a 3 1/4-length win in the 5 1/2-furlong sprint. She will be making the move to two turns off a fourth in another open-company stakes, the seven-furlong George Wafer Memorial at Arapahoe on July 7. The Beyer Figure of 65 that she earned is the best career number in Saturday’s field.

Renee’s Passion gets her natural speed from her sire, Ready’s Image, a Grade 2-winning sprinter. Her dam, the Forty Niner mare Gold in My Stars, is a source of stamina who has produced a two-turn stakes winner in Kimmyv, who captured the $75,000 Emerald Downs Distaff at a mile and an eighth in 2010.

Kenneth Gleason, who wins at an above average rate with his sprint to route prospects, trains Renee’s Passion for Tangarae Farms. Luis Rodriguez has the mount on the filly, who could get a tracking trip behind Vandella and Runnin Riann.