Mufajaah brings late kick to Bayakoa

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Watch your back. That’s what most of the fillies and mares in the $100,000 Bayakoa at Oaklawn Park will have to do Sunday as prolific closer Mufajaah seeks her second straight stakes win. She could go favored in a competitive field of 10 that includes Grade 3 winner Flashy American, the up-and-coming Haunted Heroine, and the capable stakes winner Gold Medal Dancer.

The Bayakoa, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares elevated to Grade 3 status for 2015, is the second local stepping-stone on the road to the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom on April 10. Mufajaah won the first local prep, the $100,000 Pippin, closing from a 10-length deficit for a three-length win over Haunted Heroine.

Bayakoa, race 8

KEY CONTENDERS

Haunted Heroine (Last 3 Beyers: 84-80-82)

◗ She’s out to turn the tables on Mufajaah after a demanding trip in the Pippin, in which she was under pressure throughout and fought off all with the exception of the winner, who closed from next-to-last.

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“I thought it was a very impressive race for her,” trainer Bret Calhoun said of Haunted Heroine. “We were involved early, pushed along the whole way. She never got a breather.”

◗ Calhoun is hoping for a different kind of trip Sunday.

“If she can sit a little bit and finish, I think she could be very tough,” he said.

◗ Haunted Heroine is a 4-year-old by Ghostzapper who has won 3 of 8 starts, among her wins allowances at Keeneland and Churchill Downs. In another allowance at Fair Grounds, she was second to an eventual multiple stakes winner in Shanon Nicole.

Gold Medal Dancer (Last 3 Beyers: 79-83-88)

◗ She will be making her first start since August, when an uncharacteristic seventh as the favorite in the $50,000 Ricks Memorial at Remington Park.

“That was below par for her, and we decided to give her a little freshening,” said Donnie Von Hemel, who trains Gold Medal Dancer. “Our hope was to have her ready for Oaklawn. She’s trained well, has had some real nice works.”

◗ The Ricks Memorial has since produced three next-out winners, among them Molly’s Honour in the Chaves County at Zia Park.

◗ Gold Medal Dancer is 2 for 2 at Oaklawn.

Mufajaah (Last 3 Beyers: 89-75-87)

◗ She won her first stakes in the Pippin.

◗ Manny Esquivel has the mount for Shadwell Stable and trainer Dan Peitz.