Iowa Oaks win could lead to big things for She's a Julie

The eye-catching win by She’s a Julie on Thursday night at Prairie Meadows in the Iowa Oaks was a long time in coming.

“We’ve been waiting for it for a year and a half,” said Steve Asmussen, who trains She’s a Julie for Carrol Castille’s Whispering Oaks Farm.

She’s a Julie worked like a monster last year, Asmussen said, and won her career debut as a 2-year-old in May 2017 by more than five lengths. She came unglued when a rainstorm hit Churchill Downs as she was in the paddock before the Debutante Stakes, threw in a clunker there, didn’t race again until last winter at Fair Grounds, and only in her last couple of starts has really put everything together.

On Thursday night, she rated kindly in second under Ricardo Santana Jr., sitting a couple of lengths off a fast pace, attacked the leader before the quarter pole, and had the Iowa Oaks won at the furlong grounds. Geared down late, she won by 5 1/2 lengths, ran 1 1/16 miles in a snappy 1:43.18, and got a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I was impressed with the way she went fast,” Asmussen said. “She was rolling and she looked comfortable. It was so steady. She didn’t decelerate.”

This was the first stakes win for She’s a Julie, who travels back to Churchill on Saturday, and the race had been her connections’ goal for some time, so nobody in her camp has yet mapped out a specific plan for the rest of the summer. But things could get interesting.

“I’m excited about what might be next,” said Asmussen.

Asmussen also won the $100,000 Iowa Distaff with Dreamcall, who got a career-best 83 Beyer. Asmussen has six stakes wins during 2017 and 2018 at Prairie Meadows.