Mike Smith's strategy puts Crazy Beautiful on top in Summertime Oaks

ARCADIA, Calif. - For about a sixteenth of a mile early in Sunday’s Grade 2 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita, Crazy Beautiful raced between rivals in a field of four.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith sensed that would not be a winning style.

“I’ve never had any luck when there is three of us head-and-head and being the middle guy,” he said. “It’s almost a no-breathing zone. They’re getting pressure from both sides.”

Smith eased Crazy Beautiful behind pacesetter Lady Aces and 4-5 favorite Soothsay before the small field reached the backstretch. Entering the stretch, Smith positioned Crazy Beautiful three-wide outside of those rivals, a decision that turned out to be a winning move.

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Crazy Beautiful ($4.60) took the lead in the final furlong and won the $196,000 Summertime Oaks for 3-year-old fillies by 1 3/4 lengths over Soothsay.

“She did that well within herself,” Smith said.

Crazy Beautiful ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.85, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 84. Soothsay, the winner of the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks on April 3, held second. Soothsay, trained by Richard Mandella, was beaten for the first time in her third start in the Summertime Oaks.

“I have no excuses,” Mandella said.

Soothsay finished 1 3/4 lengths in front of 4-1 Lady Aces, who had her stakes debut and third start in the Summertime Oaks. Plum Sexy (19-1) was never a factor and finished a well-beaten fourth.

Absolute Scenes was scratched Sunday morning.

Crazy Beautiful, meanwhile, has won 4 of 9 starts and has earned $520,865. Trained by Ken McPeek for Phoenix Thoroughbreds III, Crazy Beautiful has won three stakes, including the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks in March.

Crazy Beautiful was 10th of 13 after a troubled trip in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on April 30. Last November, Crazy Beautiful was sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland.

“She had a fitness advantage over the rest of the field,” Smith said. “The level of competition has been strong.”