Lightly raced Fireline steps up in class for Delaware Oaks
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Fireline will be tested for class in the Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks on Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies has a field of 10.
A Juddmonte homebred by Arrogate, Fireline graduated by 13 1/2 lengths last November in her second start, a maiden special weight. She missed the remainder of the year, but returned a winner in her seasonal debut, a first-level allowance at Belmont Park on May 18.
Trainer Chad Brown was pleased with the way Fireline took dirt in her face on the backstretch before passing the pacesetter.
“The objective was not only to win, but we were trying to teach her something there, trying to catch up on experience for a lightly raced 3-year-old that we have some big plans for.”
Dylan Davis rides from post 4.
Miracle, despite having only one victory, has kept strong company, and is the 3-1 morning line favorite for trainer Todd Pletcher.
A close second to divisional leader Pretty Mischievous in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds on Feb. 18, Miracle finished fifth of eight in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks before placing second in Belmont’s Bouwerie for New York-breds on May 29.
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Miracle should be forwardly placed while stretching back out around two turns after breaking from post 8 under Trevor McCarthy.
Balpool captured the off-turf Memories of Silver at Aqueduct on April 29 before finishing a solid fourth in Pimlico’s Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan on May 19.
“She’s a big filly, she got taken out of her game right at the start, and she found herself last going into the first turn,” said trainer Rob Atras. “She took a lot of kickback and had trouble getting through that. She weaved her way through and still came running first time two turns.”
Luis Rodriguez Castro picks up the mount from post 5.
Promiseher America burst onto the national scene with an upset victory in the Grade 3 Gazelle at Aqueduct on April 8. She did not have a clean trip when last of 14 in the Kentucky Oaks. Jorge Vargas Jr. gets the return mount from post 6.
“For the first quarter-mile, I was happy,” said trainer Ray Handal. “Going into the first turn, another horse shifted out in front of us and took Vargas by surprise. She clipped heels a little bit and took a bad stutter step. [She got] shuffled back, lost position, and Jorge said she spit the bit.”
Handal said the Oaks took a lot out of Promiseher America, but that the two-month break has done the filly a world of good.
“The last two works were spectacular,” said Handal, who noted her “weight is better now than it’s ever been.”
Stakes winners Opus Forty Two and Cats Inthe Timber must rebound from double-digit defeats in graded races. Stakes-placed performers Fast Tracked and Foggy Night exit allowance victories out of town.
Multiple stakes-placed Crypto Mama has hit the board in her last four starts. Cover the Spread makes her stakes debut after whipping first-level allowance foes by five lengths at Pimlico on May 14.
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