Life Talk will point to Kentucky Oaks

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Life Talk gave trainer Todd Pletcher his ninth victory in the Grade 2 Demoiselle when she splashed her way to a 3 3/4-length, front-running score at Aqueduct on Saturday.

Of Pletcher’s previous eight Demoiselle winners, four made it to the following spring’s Kentucky Oaks, with Malathaat (2020) and Ashado (2004) winning that race. Nest finished second in the 2021 Oaks while Unlimited Budget was third in 2012.

Life Talk will be put on the Oaks trail, Pletcher said Saturday evening after the race, though what path she will take is not yet clear.

“I think she’s a two-turn filly, we’ve always felt like the farther the better,” said Pletcher, who trains Life Talk for Mike Repole.

Pletcher has at least another Oaks candidate in Candied, who won the Grade 1 Alcibiades and was third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, whereas Life Talk was fourth in the Juvenile Fillies.

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Life Talk, who earned an 84 Beyer Speed Figure for her Demoiselle win, will head to Palm Beach Downs in the coming days to prepare for her 3-year-old campaign.

If she doesn’t make the Oaks, there is still hope for a productive campaign for Life Talk. Pletcher’s other Demoiselle winners who didn’t make the Oaks included Stopchargingmaria, Disposablepleasure and Smok’n Frolic, all of whom went on to win graded stakes at 3 or older.

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