Con Lima's speed might give her edge in Saratoga Oaks
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With Belmont Oaks winner Santa Barbara targeting the Grade 1 Beverly D. next Saturday at Arlington Park, Sunday’s Grade 3, $700,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old fillies looks like a pretty wide-open affair.
Con Lima and Higher Truth, second and third behind Santa Barbara in the Belmont Oaks, headline the field set to contest the 1 3/16 miles over Saratoga’s Mellon turf course.
The turns on Saratoga’s turf course are tighter than at Belmont and are probably more akin to Gulfstream Park’s turns. Trainer Todd Pletcher said that could be a good thing for Con Lima, who won four times – once via disqualification – last winter at Gulfstream.
“Based on her form at Gulfstream, I think she might like this turf course a little more, though both of her starts at Belmont were very good,” said Pletcher, newly inducted into the Hall of Fame. “I think she’ll like the tighter course but it’s hard to criticize her two races at Belmont.”
Con Lima won the Grade 3 Wonder Again at Belmont on June 3. She then made the pace and was beaten a half-length by a confidently handled Santa Barbara in the Belmont Oaks at 1 1/4 miles.
“She wasn’t stopping the other day, the other filly just outsprinted her,” Pletcher said.
Con Lima figures to be a forward factor in the Saratoga Oaks, breaking from post 4 under Flavien Prat.
Higher Truth was coming off a pair of 1 1/4-mile wins at Belmont leading into the Belmont Oaks, and was beaten a nose by Con Lima for second in that race. Trainer Chad Brown felt Higher Truth had a great trip in that race. He also thinks that with a trio of 10-furlong races under Higher Truth’s belt, she should be plenty fit for this 1 3/16-mile trip.
“She’s got plenty of bottom now under her and she’s gotten some really good trips,” said Brown, who again has Jose Ortiz to ride Higher Truth from the rail.
Brown also sends out Rocky Sky, an Irish-bred daughter of Rock of Gibraltar, who is making her U.S. debut and first start for Brown. She was under consideration for the Belmont Oaks, but Brown felt more time would do the filly well, so he skipped that race.
“I’m very, very pleased with that decision, she’s really taken to the program and done everything right,” Brown said. “Each work, she gets a little stronger, a little more comfortable, a little more settled. I love what I see.”
Gam’s Mission and Plum Ali, fourth and fifth in the Belmont Oaks, are back in this race. Gam’s Mission won the Grade 3 Regret Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 29 for trainer Cherie DeVaux.
Plum Ali won the first three starts of her career, including a maiden race at Saratoga, but has not won in four races since. Trainer Christophe Clement said he might scratch her to run in the Grade 2, $200,000 Lake Placid at 1 1/16 miles next Saturday.
Trainer Charlie Appleby, who has already won two Grade 1 stakes in New York with Althiqa, has shipped in Creative Flair for the Oaks. Creative Flair, a daughter of Dubawi, is coming off a narrow third-place finish to Noticeable Grace in the Grade 3 Prix Chloe at Chantilly in France on July 18.
“The form’s really good,” said Chris Connett, assistant to Appleby. “She ran her race, she was just unfortunate. It was just a bob of the heads and it could have gone either way. But she’s a solid filly, she’s pretty straightforward, and we expect her to run big on Sunday.”
Creative Flair, who will be ridden by Mike Smith, should be just off the pace, Connett said.
Messidor, trained by Joseph O’Brien, has gone 2 for 8 in her career. In March, she finished a neck behind Rocky Sky in a listed stakes at Dundalk in Ireland.
Out of Sorts, winner of the Christiana Stakes at Delaware Park on July 3 for trainer Brittany Russell, rounds out the field.
The Saratoga Oaks goes as race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 1:05 p.m. and includes the Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack Stakes for 2-year-old fillies and the $120,000 De La Rose Stakes for older females on the turf.