Joint Return fires late to win Oaks

Joint Return got back on the winning track when she rallied from last to defeat Florida Sun, the longest price on the board at 25-1, in Saturday’s $65,000 Calder Oaks. Flutterby finished a tiring third.

Joint Return had her three-race win streak snapped when she finished fifth making her south Florida debut in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks just two weeks earlier. But the drop in class to an ungraded stakes was just what the doctor ordered for Joint Return, who settled at the rear of the field under jockey Kevin Carmouche before unleashing a steady rally through the final furlong of the 1 1/16-mile Calder Oaks.

Florida Sun, who had never been beyond six furlongs and was coming off her maiden win, stalked the early pace of Flutterby, gained control into the stretch, but proved no match for Joint Return while racing a bit greenly and finishing on her left lead. It was another 5 3/4 lengths back to Flutterby. Dreams Come True, Fierce Boots, Fast Betty Blue, and White Legend completed the order of finish.

Joint Return, a 3-year-old daughter of Include, is trained by John Servis for the Main Line Racing Stables. She added the Calder Oaks to her easy victory earlier this year in the Busher Stakes at Aqueduct. She completed the distance in 1:48.94 over a fast track and paid $4.40 as the 6-5 favorite in a scratched-reduced field of seven 3-year-old fillies.