CCA Oaks winner Maracuja returns following six-month layoff

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Maracuja was the only 3-year-old filly to finish in front of champion Malathaat in 2021, her upset victory in the Coaching Club American Oaks coming in the midst of a demanding series of Grade 1 races that included the Kentucky Oaks, Alabama, and Cotillion.

After all that, a freshening was in order for Maracuja in advance of her 4-year-old campaign. Now she’s ready to get started. Maracuja returns Friday at Oaklawn Park in a hybrid allowance/optional claimer that drew five other runners, including the in-form Lil Kings Princess, who is seeking her third straight victory this meet.

The 1 1/16-mile race is the eighth on a nine-race card that begins at 1 p.m. Central. Ideal conditions are forecast, with a high of 70 degrees.

That weather report is a welcome relief for Rob Atras, who had to train Maracuja around challenging weather earlier this season, delaying her comeback.

“With the bad weather, we got a little behind in her training,” Atras said. “Just played it safe, spaced out her works. But it set her back a little. The main thing is she’s training well. I’m looking forward to getting her going.”

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Maracuja, off since finishing fourth in the Cotillion on Sept. 25, returned to the work tab Jan. 18, but was only able to work twice more over the next four weeks owing to the weather. Since late February, though, she has been able to stay on a steady pattern.

Atras said Maracuja was given time off because “we had been going so long in her training, since before she was 2, that we thought it was a good time to shut her down.”

“Hoping it pays off,” he said.

Maracuja – in post 3 of 6 with her CCA Oaks rider, Ricardo Santana Jr., aboard – figures to get a good trip stalking Lil Kings Princess, who starts from the rail in search of her third straight gate-to-wire score going 1 1/16 miles here, most recently March 6.

“She came out of her last race really good. I’m excited to get her back into a race,” her trainer, John Ortiz, said Wednesday morning. “Once we stretched her out, we found out that’s what she needed.”

Ortiz said Reylu Gutierrez will pick up the mount on Lil Kings Princess, replacing regular rider Cristian Torres, who was injured in an accident Sunday.

Of the six runners, three are in for a $100,000 tag, the most prominent being W W Fitzy, who was third in the Pippin earlier this meet.

◗ Also of interest Friday is race 6, a first-level allowance at one mile for 3-year-olds whose marquee entrant is Stellar Tap, the colt who in his debut last summer at Saratoga gave trainer Steve Asmussen his record-setting career victory. He’s 0 for 4 since, and most recently was ninth of 11 in the Rebel.

“I think it’s a good spot for him, trying to get him on track,” Asmussen said. “I got ahead of him.”