Good Cheer keeps it rolling in Fair Grounds Oaks

Good Cheer continued her dominating ways in the 3-year-old filly division, remaining unbeaten from six starts and established herself as likely no worse than second choice for the May 2 Kentucky Oaks with a 3 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks.

Sitting fourth behind a modest pace under Luis Saez, Good Cheer tipped out three wide for the stretch drive and gradually got to and went by the pacesetting second-time starter Ahavah to record her sixth consecutive victory.

Ahavah finished second by 1 1/4 lengths over Gowells Delight who was 2 1/4 lengths clear of Quickick. Her Laugh, Jenkin, Secret Faith, and Girl Math completed the order of finish.

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Good Cheer added the Fair Grounds Oaks to stakes victories in the Rags to Riches and Grade 2 Golden Rod last year – both at Churchill Downs – and the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra earlier this year. She figures to vie for favoritism in the Kentucky Oaks with the Bob Baffert-trained Tenma, who is 5 for 6 and likely runs next in the Santa Anita Oaks.

It was the fourth Fair Grounds Oaks victory – all in the last six years – for trainer Brad Cox. None of his previous winners won the Kentucky Oaks, though Cox has won that race twice. Last year, Cox won the Fair Grounds Oaks with Tarifa – like Good Cheer owned and bred by Godolphin – but she finished ninth in the Kentucky Oaks.

“She’s a big-time filly, she’s 6 for 6, the pressure’s on,” Cox said in a post-race interview broadcast on the Fair Grounds simulcast. “It was on, it stays on. She’s a very good filly that showed up every tine me led her over; very proud of her. Hopefully, we can have her as good in six weeks as she is now and she’ll be tough.”

Cox said because Good Cheer, a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, is a lighter-framed filly, he likes having the six weeks between the Fair Grounds Oaks and the Kentucky Oaks.

With the Fair Grounds main track somewhat favoring horses closer to the pace on Saturday, Saez said it was intent to have Good Cheer relatively close early on. She was within 1 1/2 lengths of Ahavah, who under Jose Ortiz ran a half-mile in 47.81 seconds and six furlongs in 1:12.16 while being stalked by Her Laugh. Good Cheer got to Ahavah by the eighth pole and gradually left her in the final sixteenth.

Good Cheer covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.44 and returned $2.80 as the favorite.

“We tried to break a little bit running from there and put her a little bit close,” Saez said. “She was traveling pretty nice, I felt like she was a little bit keen actually at the half-mile [pole], but when we came to the top of the stretch she gave me a good turn of foot.”

Good Cheer has won five consecutive races at 1 1/16 miles. The Kentucky Oaks is run at 1 1/8 miles.

“We always thought the longer the better and she’ll get another sixteenth of a mile at Churchill,” Cox said.

Meanwhile, Ahavah ran well in what was her second start after winning a six-furlong maiden race on Feb. 15.

“She broke good and made the lead on her own,” trainer Cherie DeVaux said. “Jose said she relaxed really well. She kept trying – just got beat by a better horse.”

Ahavah, a half-sister to the Grade 1 winning sprinter Vahva, earned 50 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Oaks. DeVaux was not ready to say that’s where the filly would run next.

“No one’s saying we have to go to the Oaks,” she said. “We’ll see if she takes us there in her training the next few weeks.”

Gowells Delight and Quickick may have earned enough points to get into the Kentucky Oaks. Whether they want to tangle again with Good Cheer again is a question their connections have six weeks to ponder.

– additional reporting by Marcus Hersh

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