HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The bubble wrap comes off champion Nitrogen on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. She gets to come out and play in the Grade 2, $400,000 Azeri, a 1 1/16-mile race for older fillies and mares that highlights the first-ever “Kids Day at the Races” at Oaklawn. A strong field of seven has come together, including multiple Grade 1 winner La Cara, Grade 2 winner Quietside, Grade 3 winners Regaled and Perfect Shot, and multiple stakes winners Standoutsensation and Majestic Oops. Nitrogen will be making the second start of her 4-year-old campaign. She won the Grade 3 Bayakoa at Oaklawn on Feb. 7. In the weeks leading up to the race, an ice storm hit and interrupted training at Oaklawn. Nitrogen was making her first start since Nov. 1, when she finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She stalked the pace in the Bayakoa and went on to a 2 3/4-length win. For covering 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.53, Nitrogen earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 97. :: Live racing action at Oaklawn Park! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “I thought it maybe was one of the best races she ever ran because one, I didn’t have her fully cranked up and she ran fast,” trainer Mark Casse said earlier this week. “She beat a good filly in Nerazurri. I thought it was a really good race, and numbers-wise, I think it was her best race, as well. “This race, we’ve been able to do just what we wanted to do with her, unlike the last one. So, I couldn’t be happier with her. We’ve got to do whatever we wanted to do with her, and right now she’s ready to go. We’re just trying to keep her in her bubble wrap.” There is some rain in the forecast for Saturday, but Nitrogen has won on a wet track in the past. The high is projected to be in the mid 70s. “She doesn’t mind it a little damp, so, I’m not really worried about that with her,” said Casse. Jose Ortiz has the mount on Nitrogen, an earner of $2.1 million for her breeder and owner, D. J. Stable. She will start from post 2. “I see Nitrogen probably sitting not that far off of it,” Casse said. “Nitrogen has natural speed. Jose is not going to let anybody get too far ahead.” Casse also will saddle La Cara, the winner of last year’s Ashland and Acorn who is coming off a fifth-place finish in the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic on Jan. 24 at Sam Houston. “I think La Cara is going to come back and run really well,” Casse said. “La Cara is training really well and she got unlucky her first race back. The track at Sam Houston, they just got a ton of rain and it was sloppy and very tiring. But she’s a happy camper. She loves Oaklawn.” La Cara will break from post 6. Cristian Torres has the mount on the $1.2 million earner for Tracy Farmer. “I’ve tried in the past to rate La Cara,” Casse said. “I did it again last time. I’m not going to do it anymore. She’s going to go to the lead. There is some speed in there. Standoutsensation is fast. But she’s going to come away from there running and play catch me if you can.” The Bayakoa will likely be the last time Nitrogen and La Cara race against each other for a while, said Casse. It will be easier to separate them as more meets start to open in the spring. “Right now, everything is more condensed,” Casse said. “Now as things spread out, with La Cara having won the Grade 1 at Keeneland, I see her going back there, maybe for the Doubledogdare.” The Grade 2, $400,000 race will be run over 1 1/16 miles April 17. “Nitrogen, the plan is to stay here for the Apple Blossom,” said Casse. The Grade 1, $1.25 million race for fillies and mares on April 11 is a new Win and You’re In challenge race for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Regaled ran third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff following a win in the Grade 3 Delaware Handicap. The Azeri will be her first start since a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Falls City on Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs. Perfect Shot and Standoutsensation finished a respective one-two last out in the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic. Quietside enters the Azeri off a third-place finish in the Bayakoa, while Majestic Oops will be moving back to two turns after winning the American Beauty at Oaklawn. Last year, Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna won the Azeri before also taking the Apple Blossom. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.