Casse, McPeek fillies clash in Bourbonette Oaks

As the only points race for the Kentucky Oaks contested on a synthetic surface, the Grade 3, $100,000 DRF Bets Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park on Saturday occupies a unique spot on the racing calendar.

The Bourbonette was first run on synthetic in 2006, when Top Notch Lady won and subsequently finished eighth in the Kentucky Oaks – the best finish in the race by a Bourbonette winner in the synthetic era. Third-place finisher Lemons Forever went on to win the Kentucky Oaks and is the most recent filly to emerge from Turfway as a 3-year-old to do so. As a result of that recent spotty history as a prep, the Bourbonette had its Oaks qualifying points cut from 50 to 20 for the winner this year.

But while the race’s history as an Oaks prep has faltered, quality fillies have still passed through Turfway, with Canadian Horse of the Year Sealy Hill and eventual Grade 1 winners Hot Cha Cha, In Lingerie, and Summer Soiree among the last 10 winners of the Bourbonette.

Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, who has won a record five editions of the Bourbonette, and Ken McPeek, who is looking for his third straight win in the race, each bring in a filly for this year’s Bourbonette.

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The Casse-trained Mo Flash is coming off a maiden win going the Bourbonette’s one-mile distance on a sloppy track at Aqueduct. The Uncle Mo filly finished second in maiden races on both the synthetic main track and turf at Woodbine last year.

“She’s got previous synthetic experience at Woodbine, so I figured she will like it at Turfway,” Casse said. “Her last race was a really solid effort. She’s run well on everything, so we’ll have options for her after this race.”

Classy Music is coming off a five-month layoff after finishing third in an allowance race on the Keeneland dirt. Her only victory came in a one-mile race taken off the turf at Ellis Park, where she recovered from a stumbling start to win by 4 3/4 lengths.

“She’s got some talent, and it appears she wants to go longer,” McPeek said of the filly, whose dam, Class Above, won the 2004 Bourbonette. “She’s really training up to this race in top form. We’ve had a nice, steady work pattern with her.”

Bet She Wins was last seen finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes last October at Keeneland, her lone start on dirt. Prior to that, she was a 9 1/2-length winner of the Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes on a synthetic track. The Chris Block trainee earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 90 for that effort, among the best last year for 2-year-old fillies.

Consolida also boasts a stakes victory at a route distance on synthetic, as she won the California Oaks at Golden Gate Fields in her U.S. debut.

In the Mood has won two straight races at Turfway, including the local prep, the Cincinnati Trophy, where she earned a 74 Beyer, tied for the best last-out mark in this field. She is stretching out to two turns for the first time. Cincinnati Trophy third-place finisher Homemade Salsa also returns for the Bourbonette.

The field is completed by the Mike Maker-trained duo of Queen’s Fate and Go Noni Go, stakes-placed on synthetic and turf, respectively; Hey Negrita, a maiden winner sprinting in December at Turfway; Mauk’s Tuff, second in a Turfway allowance last out; and Maryland shipper Child’s Play.