Bourbonette Oaks, Rushaway Stakes true handicapping puzzles

Bettors looking for an easy single for their multirace wagers Saturday at Turfway Park are bound to be disappointed.

Not only is the Spiral Stakes a tough out, but the two preceding stakes are equally difficult. The $100,000 Rushaway and $100,000 Bourbonette Oaks both drew full fields of 3-year-olds, and neither has a clear-cut favorite. The Polytrack races are all linked together in a pick four (races 7-10) ending with the Spiral.

In a broader context, the Bourbonette Oaks is the more important of the two supporting features. Not only does it carry a Grade 3 ranking, but there are 50 eligibility points toward the May 6 Kentucky Oaks available to the winning filly.

Marquee Miss, a three-time stakes winner, is the most accomplished filly in the one-mile Bourbonette, but she was distanced in her most recent start and will be facing a capable lineup of opponents, among them the uncoupled Ken McPeek-trained pair of Wonderment and Dorodansa.

Of those two, Dorodansa has an off-the-pace running style that might be best suited to a race with plenty of pace. She was fourth in the Grade 3 Honeybee at Oaklawn three weeks ago.

“I think she’ll like the Polytrack a lot more than she liked the dirt,” said McPeek. “She’s a good, solid filly, and I think she’s better than her last race.”

The ungraded Rushaway, a 1 1/16-mile race that sometimes gets spillover from the Spiral, could have Gimlet as a lukewarm favorite when the colt breaks from the rail for Florent Geroux and trainer Todd Pletcher.

The Rushaway is the eighth of 12 Saturday races, with post time set for 4:33 p.m. Eastern. The Bourbonette (race 9) follows at 5:07.

KEY CONTENDERS

Bourbonette Oaks, race 9

Marquee Miss, by Cowboy Cal

Last 3 Beyers: NA-79-70

◗ All-or-nothing filly won her career debut over Polytrack in the Arlington-Washington Lassie last August, which is no small feat, and has raced solely on dirt since then for Ingrid Mason, accounting for the Dixie Belle and Martha Washington stakes at Oaklawn in six subsequent outings.

Dorodansa, by Bellamy Road

Last 3 Beyers: 58-76-77

◗ Filly with considerable two-turn experience was a mediocre fourth in the Honeybee but did show more run in prior starts.

Lope, by Arch

Last 3 Beyers: 70-70-56

◗ Claiborne Farm homebred exits a near miss in a Feb. 5 overnight stakes over the Fair Grounds turf and shows a steady work pattern in the interim for trainer Al Stall Jr.

Rushaway, race 8

Gimlet, by Lemon Drop Kid

Last 3 Beyers: 85-83-82

◗ All three of his previous starts have come over the Gulfstream Park turf, with a two-back maiden victory being followed by a respectable fifth in the Grade 3 Palm Beach.

Scholar Athlete, by Einstein

Last 3 Beyers: 85-79-72

◗ Ontario-bred had to settle for sixth in the Palm Beach for trainer Graham Motion after being very involved in the pace much of the way, so a similar effort and a little follow-through make him tough here.

Rated R Superstar, by Kodiak Kowboy

Last 3 Beyers: 76-73-60

◗ Blinkers go on a McPeek-trained colt who has raced exclusively on dirt when facing some of the best of the current 3-year-old crop.