Golden Gate Fields: Be Proud much the best in California Oaks

Be Proud, coming out of the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet, earned her first stakes victory with an easy three-length score in the $53,405 California Oaks at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday.

Josephine’s Moment had the early lead heading into the first turn in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies before Be Proud ($3.40) cruised by her to lead by one-half length after the opening quarter.

Winning jockey Russell Baze kept a good hold on Be Proud, a daughter of Proud Citizen, and she was never seriously challenged through easy fractions of 50.61 and 1:15.59. The winning time was 1:47.62.

Josephine’s Moment sat second before tiring badly in the stretch and fading to fifth.

Northern California-based Kris Furillo, making her first start on the main track, and Tiz Kissable, who won her debut at Golden Gate Fields on Dec. 15, dueled through the lane for second with Kris Furillo, who got first run between the two, holding on by a head. Tiz Kissable was three-quarters of a length in front of Earthflight, who was making her U.S. debut.

Be Proud, a $125,000 Ocala purchase last April, had earlier run second in the P.D. Shepherd and Sharp Cat before fading to seventh after pressing the pace in the Hollywood Starlet. Owned by Patti and Hal J. Earnhardt III and trained by Bob Baffert, Be Proud earned $30,300 for her second victory in eight starts to increase her lifetime earnings to $117,950.