Lovely Ride will have pace company in Dig A Diamond
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Lovely Ride will face opposing speed when she goes for her third stakes win of the Oaklawn Park meet Saturday in the $150,000 Dig A Diamond, but the potential race flow will not alter the tactics that have lifted her to wins in the Mistletoe and Pippin.
“There’s lots of speed on the inside of her, but at the same time we’re not changing our strategy,” said Robertino Diodoro, Oaklawn’s leading trainer. “We’ll make the best of it, see what happens.”
The inaugural Dig A Diamond, which is for fillies and mares at a mile, shares a card with the $150,000 Bachelor. Grade 3 Sanford winner Mo Strike will meet multiple stakes winner Tyler’s Tribe in the Bachelor, which is for 3-year-olds at six furlongs. The Dig A Diamond and Bachelor close the Racing Festival of the South.
Lovely Ride is part of a seven-horse field that includes fellow front-runners Let’s Cruise, Coastal Charm, and Into Disco, as well as sprint-to-route runners Gunning and Tap Dance Fever. A hot pace could set the table for Butterbean, who used closing tactics to win last year’s Grade 3 Iowa Oaks.
Lovely Ride will start from post 4 under Oaklawn leading rider Cristian Torres, who was aboard for her wins in the Mistletoe in December and Pippin in January. Lovely Ride proceeded to run second in the Grade 3 Bayakoa in February. The winner of that race, A Mo Reay, returned in her next start to take the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita.
Lovely Ride’s other start at the meet came in last month’s Grade 2 Azeri, where she finished sixth behind Grade 1 winners Secret Oath and Clairiere.
“She ran hard in the Azeri,” Diodoro said of Lovely Ride. “Even though she ran sixth, I thought she ran her hardest race.
“We’re excited for Saturday. Her last two works coming into the race have been very strong. She’s a happy filly right now. She’s been that way the whole meet. I think she’s even more so right now.”
Tap Dance Fever is a winner of three of her last four starts, with all of those victories coming at Tampa Bay Downs. She won an overnight handicap at seven furlongs last month and has since been purchased privately and sent to trainer Bret Calhoun. Tap Dance Fever on Saturday is moving back to the two-turn distance of her win in the Wayward Lass at Tampa.
“Her best number was going long,” Calhoun said. “Obviously, I haven’t had her that long, so I don’t know that much about her, except for her form’s good. She’s a pretty solid, hard-knocking mare. We’re just going to lead her over and see what happens. She’s doing well.”
Isaac Castillo has the mount from post 7.
Gunning, who will be making her two-turn debut, is a half-sister to Kentucky Derby probable Mage.
Bachelor Stakes
Release McCraken will attempt to win his fourth straight race in the Bachelor, when he meets fellow stakes winners Mo Strike, Tyler’s Tribe, and Count de Monet.
“I think it’s a stern test for him,” said Calhoun, who trains Release McCraken. “You’ve got a couple of horses that have run some fast figures. He hadn’t done much wrong in his career for us as well, but this will be his toughest test.”
Release McCraken is turning back to a sprint after winning his stakes debut last month in the $100,000 Texas Thoroughbred Association Derby, a new race for eligible sales graduates held at Sam Houston. Prior to the start, Release McCraken had won sprints at Churchill Downs and Fair Grounds. Calhoun likes the distance move Saturday.
“I think that will suit him very, very well,” he said. “I was more concerned about him stretching out than I am him sprinting.”
Release McCraken will break from post 7 of 8, under Gabe Saez.
Mo Strike is making his first start since September, when he was fourth to eventual champion Forte in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga. Torres has the mount from post 3 for trainer Brad Cox. Mo Strike will be first-time Lasix.
Tyler’s Tribe is cutting back to one turn, where he is a four-time stakes winner, after finishing sixth in a one-mile allowance at Oaklawn. Kylee Jordan has the mount from post 5.
Arman returns to the stakes ranks after winning a local allowance with a Beyer Speed Figure of 93, the top number in the Bachelor. Ryvit earned a 90 last out for for an allowance win at Oaklawn.
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