Hide and Chic faces softer in Oaks

Hide and Chic, the beaten favorite in the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga a month ago, faces softer competition for her initial race around two turns in Monday's $100,000 Pennsylvania Oaks.

The Oaks, which will be contested at a mile and 70 yards, goes as race 9, immediately preceding Philadelphia Park's premier event, the Grade 2, $750,000 Pennsylvania Derby.

Hide and Chic finished a distant second to Leave Me Alone in the seven-furlong Test, but her chances may have been compromised as she tried to rally over a track that favored early speed. The extra distance of the Oaks seems within her capabilities, and her trainer, Nick Zito, excels with horses stretching out. She is ideally drawn in post 2 among a group of 10 3-year-old fillies.

Pleasant Chimes, who has been competitive at the Grade 2 stakes level, and the long idle Amazing Buy should provide the keenest competition for Hide and Chic.

The Mark Hennig-trained Pleasant Chimes owns two wins around two turns, including the $170,000 Susan's Girl at Delaware Park in June. She has been freshened since finishing last in the Coaching Club American Oaks in late July.

Amazing Buy, based in New York with Jennifer Pedersen, was sharp early in the year when she won four starts in a row, including minor stakes at Laurel Park and over the inner dirt at Aqueduct. A front-runner, Amazing Buy will be making her first start since stopping badly in the Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland in April.

Shebelongstoyou will be dangerous if she can move forward in the second start of her form cycle. In a similar situation, she improved 18 points on the Beyer Speed Figure scale in an easy win at this same distance at Monmouth Park. Last time out, Shebelongstoyou was a good second in the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks.

* Ender's Sister, who has consistently picked up checks in Grade 2 races each of the past two seasons, should be formidable in the $75,000 Steve Van Buren Handicap, a seven-furlong race for fillies and mares.

In her only previous race at Philly Park last October, Ender's Sister finished second behind Ashado in the Grade 2 Cotillion Handicap. The 90-plus Beyers she earned in a pair of graded events earlier this summer might be good enough to win the Van Buren.

Tamweel was beaten only three lengths in last fall's Breeders' Cup Distaff but hasn't been close in her only two races this season. She makes her first start for trainer Steve Asmussen, and has been working sharply at Arlington Park for only her second race since January.