Lady Eli dominates Oaks with huge late kick

ELMONT, N.Y. – Lady Eli was the best horse among the 14 3-year-old fillies entered to run in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational, and trainer Chad Brown thought all she needed was a clear trip to prove it.

So, despite having to lose significant ground down the backside and around the turn, Lady Eli proved how much the best she was by unleashing her potent late kick in the stretch and dominating the Oaks by 2 3/4 lengths at Belmont Park.

Itsonlyactingdad, a 35-1 longshot, rallied from 10th to get second, three-quarters of a length in front of the European shipper Outstanding, who nosed out Sentiero Italia for third.

The win was the sixth in as many starts for Lady Eli, who went 3 for 3 at age 2, capped by a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

“Outside of American Pharoah, she’s arguably one of the more exciting horses in training,” said Brown. “And I think that’s great for the sport, and I think it’s certainly great for our barn to have her in our care.”

Brown said he felt some apprehension with Lady Eli drawn in post 2. He feared the filly might get into traffic trouble as she had in the Wonder Again Stakes, which she won narrowly. One of the strategies he and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. discussed was getting off the inside and in the clear early.

“One of the scenarios was if there was a bunch of separation, to get her out of the rail right away, and that’s what he executed very well,” Brown said.

Ortiz had Lady Eli four wide but with no one around her while Lady Zuzu carved out legitimate fractions of 22.93 seconds for the quarter, 47.23 for the half-mile, and 1:11.71 for six furlongs. Ortiz had Lady Eli even wider around the turn and in the stretch, but he still had not yet asked his filly to run. When he did, Lady Eli took off, and she galloped home an easy winner.

Lady Eli, a daughter of Divine Park owned by Sheep Pond Partners, covered the 1 1/4 miles in 1:59.27 – nearly two seconds faster than the final time of Force the Pass, who ran the same distance in winning the Derby in 2:01.16.

“We talked about it in the morning, and we did not want to be in too much trouble in the race,” Ortiz said. “We expect we have the best horse in the race. I want to save ground the first part of the race, but after that, I said, ‘Let me stay out of trouble.’ ”

On his own since 2007 and as an assistant trainer to Bobby Frankel, Brown has worked around many talented turf fillies and mares.

“I never worked around a horse on turf with this devastating a turn of foot at any distance,” Brown said.

Brown said his two fall objectives for Lady Eli will be the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland on Oct. 10 and the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, also at Keeneland, on Oct. 31. By virtue of her victory in the Belmont Oaks, Lady Eli earned a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf as part of the Win and You’re In program.

Brown said he’s not sure where Lady Eli will run before the QE II, but races such as the Grade 1, $750,000 Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 15, in which she would face older fillies and mares, or the Grade 2, $300,000 Lake Placid against 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga on Aug. 14 would be considered.