Ladys look to rebound in Dixie Belle Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – It could be an exacta for the ladies Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

Adventurous Lady and Lady T N T figure prominently in the $100,000 Dixie Belle, a six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies. The race drew a field of seven and is something of a Letellier Memorial reunion, as four of the Dixie Belle entrants exit that Dec. 22 stakes at Fair Grounds.

The graduates are Unholy Alliance, who was third; Q Go Girl, fourth; Lady T N T, fifth; and Adventurous Lady, sixth.

Dixie Belle (Race 8)

KEY CONTENDERS

Adventurous Lady, by Kantharos

Last 3 Beyers: 42-83-81

◗ She might have finished behind these in the Letellier Memorial, but she is the most accomplished filly in the Dixie Belle. She is a two-time stakes winner and owns the field’s best collection of Beyer Speed Figures. As for her last start, it was the first time Adventurous Lady failed to bring home a check, and it was her first start in New Orleans.

“She ran bad at the Fair Grounds, but you know, Fair Grounds ain’t for everybody,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “This is a good spot for her, and she’s been training well up here.”

◗ Adventurous Lady worked five-eighths in a sharp 1:00.80 on Feb. 4 at Oaklawn. She is looking to get on a roll like last year, when she won three straight races for owner Jerry Durant, including her maiden in a division of the $100,000 Texas Thoroughbred Futurity at Lone Star Park.

“She’s a tough son of a gun,” Asmussen said of the determined filly, who regularly runs hard from the bell through the wire.

◗ Ramon Vazquez has the mount from post 3. He takes over from Ricardo Santana Jr., who on Saturday is riding in multiple stakes races at Fair Grounds.

Lady T N T, by Justin Phillip

Last 3 Beyers: 63-79-75

◗ She won her maiden at Saratoga last August, then won a first-level allowance at Churchill Downs by 6 1/2 lengths. Lady T N T was the beaten favorite in the Letellier Memorial and was later found to have a foot abscess, according to trainer Joe Sharp.

“Things have been forward since then, and we’re hoping for a return to form,” he said. “She’s had three really nice works over the track. She’s training really well, and we’re thinking the filly can run back to her form from when she won the first-level allowance at Churchill.”

◗ Lady T N T, who races for Scott and Evan Dilworth, will break from post 5 under David Cabrera.

“She’s fast. She likes to be right there on the lead,” Sharp said. “I expect her to be pretty forward.”