Nerazurri wheels back for Trivista after game second to Nitrogen

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Nerazurri lost nothing in defeat in her last start, and the company line from the race is one of the primary reasons she will be a strong favorite Friday in the $135,000 Trivista overnight stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Nerazurri exits the track’s Grade 3 Bayakoa on Feb. 7. She raced with the pace and ultimately finished second, 2 3/4 lengths behind champion and stablemate Nitrogen.

“After she ran so well against Nitrogen, her owner Michael Eiserman said to me, ‘I don’t want to run against Nitrogen anymore,’ and I respect that opinion,” trainer Mark Casse said. “We looked at what else, and this race is there. I also flirted with the idea of sending her to California for the Beholder, but right now the plan is to run on Friday.”

The Trivista is a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares, 4 and older, who have never won a stakes other than statebred or restricted. It’s drawn a field eight that includes Gowells Delight, who last year ran third in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks, and Seraphia, who was second in last year’s Zia Park Oaks.

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The Trivista, named for a neighborhood that borders Oaklawn, is part of the buildup to Sunday’s Grade 2, $1 million Rebel.

Nerazurri is 2 for 3 this meet. She made her first start for Casse last October at Keeneland in an allowance route. Nerazurri stalked the pace in third, lost momentum in the stretch when blocked, then was eating up ground late to finish third by a half-length.

“She’s always impressed us,” Casse said. “The first time we ran her at Keeneland, it was a very tough race and I thought she should have won. Jose [Ortiz] rode her that day and came back and he said, ‘We’re going to have a lot of fun with this one.’ ”

Nerazurri made her way to Oaklawn and won back-to-back starts, including the Oaklawn Sports overnight stakes with a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 92. She equaled the number last out when facing Nitrogen – and Jose Ortiz – in the Bayakoa.

“In the paddock, Jose’s like, ‘That filly’s not going to be easy to run down,’ ” Casse recalled. “And I said, ‘I agree.’

A couple of people said to me prior to Nitrogen’s race, ‘She should gallop,’ and I said, ‘Our other filly’s going to make her run for her money.’ And she did. That speaks volumes.

“My only little bit of a concern is we’re back kind of quick. But she seems very happy, so we’re going to give it a shot.”

Cristian Torres, who has ridden Nerazurri in her three starts at the meet, has the mount from post 2.

Gowells Delight drew post 8 and will be ridden by Manny Esquivel. He was aboard for her two length, last-out win here in a first-level allowance on Feb. 7.

“I like her in this spot,” said trainer Kenny McPeek. “She’s graded stakes-placed. This seems like a good spot for her and she’s doing really well right now.”

Seraphia, who drew post 3, enters off a runner-up finish to Nerazurri in the Oaklawn Sports.

Home Game makes her Oaklawn debut after finishing fifth in Del Mar’s Grade 3 Bayakoa on Nov. 30.

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