Atsila makes belated U.S. debut in American Oaks

Atsila will make a delayed United States debut in Sunday’s Grade 1 American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on turf at Santa Anita.

A stakes winner in Ireland in May, Atsila was 20-1 on the morning-line for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1, but was withdrawn on race morning on veterinary advice.

Eight weeks later, Atsila may be favored to win the most prestigious race of her career in the $300,000 American Oaks at 1 1/4 miles.

“She’s starting to come around,” said trainer Richard Baltas, who added the filly to his stable after the Breeders’ Cup.

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Owned by the partnership of Barry Fowler, Medallion Racing, and Parkland Thoroughbreds, Atsila drew post 10 in a field of 11 in the American Oaks.

Aside from Atsila, there are four other stakes winners in the field – A Thousand Miles, As Catch Can, Totally Justified, and Will Then.

Atsila, an Irish-bred by Phoenix of Spain, has kept the best company. She was third by 1 1/4 lengths in the Group 1 Matron Stakes at a mile at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland on Sept. 13, and sixth of nine in the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes at a mile at Newmarket Racecourse in Britain on Oct. 4. Those races were against older fillies and mares. Donnacha O’Brien was Atsila’s previous trainer.

Since joining Baltas’s stable, Atsila has worked twice, including five furlongs in 1:00.60 on Dec. 19.

“She didn’t seem to be blowing very hard,” Baltas said. “She looks okay.”

Baltas has won the American Oaks twice, most recently in 2019 with Lady Prancealot.

Last year, She Feels Pretty won as a heavy favorite for trainer Cherie DeVaux. On Sunday, DeVaux starts Cliffs, a winner of two of her last three starts.

Cliffs won a maiden race at 1 1/16 miles at Saratoga in August, and won an allowance race at a mile on turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 7. Cliffs will have her first appearance in a stakes, and first start at 1 1/4 miles, on Sunday.

“She’s a filly that has been developing along nicely,” DeVaux said earlier this month. “I thought her better distance will be farther. She won at a mile and a sixteenth and just got there.”

George Strawbridge Jr.’s Augustin Stable and trainer Jonathan Thomas have three entrants – Ambaya, As Catch Can, and Will Then. Thomas said recently that As Catch Can’s participation will be determined by Sunday.

As Catch Can won the Old Dominion Oaks at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Colonial Downs in Virginia in her last start.

Ambaya was a fast-closing fourth despite a troubled trip as the 7-10 favorite in an allowance race at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 24.

“She’s always hinted at quality,” Thomas said. “I’ll be curious to see what [extra distance] would do for her.”

Will Then runs in a shorter race in the American Oaks than her last start, a fifth-place finish by two lengths in the Grade 3 Red Carpet Stakes against older fillies and mares at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 23.

Will Then, the winner of two one-mile stakes on turf earlier in her career, set a slow pace in the Red Carpet, but typically runs as a stalker.

“I thought she hung around pretty good against older fillies,” Thomas said. “She had the lead at the three-sixteenths pole. She was trying to hang in there for a placing and didn’t see out the mile and three-eighths.”

Will Then could face an early challenge from A Thousand Miles, who was second at 95-1 in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in October, and won the Zia Park Oaks at 1 1/16 miles on dirt on Nov. 25 by stalking the pace.

A Thousand Miles will be a longshot Sunday.

“She was pretty impressive at Zia Park,” trainer Vann Belvoir said. “She’s a hot filly. When fillies get good, they get good.”

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