Niassa stamps ticket to California Oaks

Niassa may be the local favorite in the Feb. 7 California Oaks after a nine-length victory in a one-mile optional claimer here last Thursday.

That win improved her record at Golden Gate to 2 for 2. She won an allowance sprint here in November before running third in the $200,000 Soviet Problem at Los Alamitos on Dec. 7.

Trainer Billy Morey says Niassa is still a bit green, but he was impressed with the way she opened up on the far turn of Thursday’s race.

“She accelerated around the three-eighths pole,” he said. “That’s a style you like to see.”

Niassa, a Papa Clem filly owned and bred by Barbara and Jack Owens, was sent off as the 7-10 favorite.

“She’s still working through some greenness,” Morey said. “She’s a nice filly, and she’s shown an ability to get two turns. A lot of young fillies don’t want to do that, but she does.”