Justique, Ortiz use rail-skimming move to take Carousel Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Justique was a courageous winner of the $150,000 Carousel on Sunday at Oaklawn Park, where she came through a seam in the stretch and went on to a half-length victory over Benedetta. It was another 2 1/4 lengths back in third to Sandy Bottom.

The Carousel, a six-furlong race for fillies and mares, started the stakes action on the Rebel Day card that, due to a winter storm system, was moved from Saturday to Sunday.

Justique ($4.20) trailed the field into the final turn as Sandy Bottom set a pressured pace of 22.09 seconds for the opening quarter and 45.56 for the half-mile. Justique advanced along the rail on the turn before jockey Jose Ortiz guided her through an opening near the eighth pole and she accelerated. Justique covered the distance on a fast track in 1:09.96.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

“She broke a step slow,” Ortiz told the publicity department at Oaklawn. “She used to do that when she was in California. I studied that. I knew in my mind that it was a possibility that she would probably break a step slow. I knew there was a lot of speed in the race. If she broke a step slow, I thought they would kind of come back to me.

“My plan went accordingly. I rode Benedetta twice and I think she’s very nice. She liked the track here as well. She won here last time. I wanted to break well, clean, and follow her. I tried to do that as much as I could. Quarter-pole, going to the three-sixteenths, there was a very nice gap between horses and I had no choice but to go the rail. There was a little gap in there. My filly was brave enough to go through it.”

Cherie DeVaux trains Justique for C.R.K. Stable.

Justique is a daughter of Justify and a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Mo Town. She has now won 4 of 17 starts for earnings of $365,790.

One race later, 3-5 favorite Cornucopian won his debut in a maiden special weight for 3-year-olds at six furlongs in 1:09.02. He took quick command out of the gate and set fractions of 21.86 seconds for the opening quarter and 45.50 under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Cornucopian won by 5 3/4 lengths.

Bob Baffert trains Cornucopian, who made the trip from Southern California to Oaklawn with the barn’s Rebel starter later on the card, Madaket Road. Cornucopian was a $1.1 million yearling purchase. He is by Into Mischief and is a half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Guarana and Grade 3 winner Beatbox.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.