Firm turf benefits this filly

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Bold Answer will be tough to handle if she gets her kind of course Wednesday in the $125,000 Walmac Lone Star Oaks at Lone Star Park.

Bold Answer, it can be argued, likes to hear her feet rattle. Never beaten on a firm course, the filly will be hoping the ground is hard when she takes on six others in the Oaks, at 1 1/16 miles on turf. The race has also drawn La Recherche, an improving filly for trainer Tom Amoss; Mysia Jo, a two-time winner on turf who was third in the Grade 2 Fantasy; Aswhatilldois, winner of the $100,000 California Oaks at Golden Gate; and a trio of locals led by Smokin and Jokin, who is seeking her fifth consecutive win Wednesday.

Bold Answer has won three of six starts on turf, her three defeats coming over "good" courses. In her last two starts, both on turf, she has finished fourth, beaten 3 3/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Regret at Churchill Downs, and second, beaten a length, in the Edgewood, also at Churchill. Before those races, Bold Answer reeled off three straight wins, all on firm turf: her maiden and an allowance race at Fair Grounds; as well as the Appalachian at Keeneland.

Trainer Michael Stidham looks for another good race from Bold Answer, who takes a class drop from Grade 3 company to a non-graded stakes Wednesday. "She's been competing with some of the best turf fillies in the country," said Stidham, who has given the mount to Frank Lovato, Jr. "She should do well in the Oaks."

Le Recherche could be the biggest threat to Bold Answer. Although she finished fifth behind that one in the Edgewood in May, La Recherche seems to have improved since that race, as she returned in her next out to finish second, beaten a neck, against older horses in a conditioned allowance at Churchill Downs. "She's a nice filly that's constantly improving," said Amoss, who has given the mount to Ron Ardoin.

Eddie Martin, Jr. will ride Mysia Jo, who has done some of her most consistent running on turf, with two of her three career wins coming on the surface for trainer Bobby Barnett. Another interesting entrant is Devout Sinner, who is making her turf debut after winning both of her career starts impressively on the main track at Lone Star. Trainer Joan Charlton, who worked Devout Sinner five furlongs on turf in 1:02, has given the mount to Cliff Berry.

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