Esplanande towers over her rivals in Southern Park Stakes

Tim Hamm, among Ohio’s leading trainers, saw his fair share of Eclipse Award champion juvenile filly Vequist last season. His stable star Dayout-oftheoffice defeated her in the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes at Belmont, then was second to her in the championship-deciding Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland. Earlier, Esplanande, whom Hamm also co-owns, had been second to Vequist in the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga.

Esplanande makes her first start since that September showdown as she looms large against her fellow Ohio-bred 3-year-old fillies in the $75,000 Southern Park Stakes on Saturday at Mahoning Valley.

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Esplanande was bred by Hamm’s Blazing Meadows Farm and partner WinStar Farm, and races for those outfits in partnership with Michael Lewis. The Daredevil filly, with Erik Barbaran in the irons for the first time, is the morning-line favorite for the Southern Park on the strength of a fine 2-year-old campaign. She won her first three starts by a combined 12 3/4 lengths in her native Ohio before her creditable foray into Grade 1 company. That streak included front-running victories against colts in the Hoover Stakes at Belterra – with a Southern Park field-best Beyer Speed Figure of 70 – and the Cleveland Kindergarten at Thistledown. The latter win came at the six-furlong distance she will navigate Saturday. Going seven furlongs in the Spinaway, Esplanande assumed her customary pace-setting role before finishing second to Vequist by 9 1/2 lengths.

Esplanande is easily the most accomplished filly in the field of 12 entered for the Southern Park.

Southern Park entrants Shez Shacked Up and Ballroom Blitz were second and third in the 1 1/16-mile John Galbreath Memorial on Oct. 31 at Mahoning Valley, the showcase for 2-year-old fillies on the annual Best of Ohio program. On Feb. 24, Ballroom Blitz and Shez Shacked Up finished second and fourth in a statebred allowance sprint at Mahoning Valley won by Saturday rival Wine Me Up Baby. Bucky Bling, also entered in the Southern Park, ran third in that allowance.

Rock Star Lady, third in the six-furlong Glacial Princess in November at Mahoning Valley, comes off consecutive statebred allowance victories. On Jan. 25, she defeated Shez Shacked Up by 1 1/4 lengths, and on Feb. 24, she beat Cause of Love by 1 1/4 lengths and was flattered when Cause of Love came back to win. Rock Star Lady posted a Beyer Speed Figure of 60 in her latest win, by far her career-best figure.