Call Pat should be rolling in stretch of Bayakoa
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Watch your back, girls.
Call Pat figures to be coming for probable favorite Sarah Sis and Streamline in the late stages of Sunday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Bayakoa at Oaklawn. The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares will be Call Pat’s first start of the year, and as with others in the field, it’s a stepping-stone to the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap on April 15.
“That would be the goal,” said Brad Cox, who trains Call Pat for Miller Racing.
Bayakoa (race 8)
Call Pat, by Lawyer Ron
Last 3 Beyers: 87-88-85
◗ She used her closing kick to win the Grade 3 Groupie Doll last August at Ellis Park.
“Her best races are like that,” Cox said. “She’ll just come from out of it.”
◗ The Groupie Doll was a peak race from Call Pat, who trailed for the first half-mile before unleashing her run for a half-length win. She earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 94. It was the first stakes win for Call Pat.
“It obviously did a tremendous amount for her broodmare value,” Cox said.
◗ In her last start, Call Pat was third in the Grade 2 Falls City on Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs. The fourth-place finisher from the race, Birdatthewire, came back in her next start to win the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita. Call Pat, meanwhile, was freshened following a campaign that included a pair of starts at Belmont Park, including a third in the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm.
“She’s doing well,” Cox said. “We did have a minor setback the end of December, first of January. We missed a little training, but it’s one of those things where she had a really good work this past weekend, and I think we’re just going to run her. She may not be 100 percent, but she’s pretty close, and, you know, we probably don’t need to wait all the way to the Azeri [on March 19].”
◗ Call Pat will break from post 7 under Joe Rocco Jr. and could get a nice setup behind Sarah Sis, Tosha Talifero, Cabana, and perhaps Streamline, the winner of last month’s Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn.
Sarah Sis, by Sharp Humor
Last 3 Beyers: 91-92-57
◗ She will be moving back to two turns after launching her season going six furlongs in last month’s $100,000 American Beauty at Oaklawn. She dueled for the lead and finished second by a neck.
◗ Julio Felix has the mount for Rags Racing Stable and trainer Ingrid Mason.