Oaklawn Park: Beattie chooses Hot Springs over Maryland for unbeaten Taris

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The extreme weather that has defined the winter of 2014 has led trainer Todd Beattie to send the undefeated Taris to Oaklawn for the Grade 3, $150,000 Honeybee on Saturday, rather than return her to Laurel for this weekend’s Caesar’s Wish. As bad as the winter has been in Arkansas, it’s been more severe in Maryland.

“We’ve just had unbelievable weather this year,” Beattie said Tuesday, noting that at one point eight to 12 inches of snow hit Laurel. “It’s just shut us down.”

Taris arrived at Oaklawn on Monday night from an Ocala, Fla., training center. Beattie had sent her to the Woodside Ranch operation of his sister and brother-in-law, Holley and Bryan Rice, following her 5 1/2-length romp in the $100,000 Wide Country at Laurel on Jan. 25.

“After I ran her at Laurel last time, I got her out of the frozen tundra,” said Beattie, who is based at Penn National. “I’m sure glad I did. I avoided a lot of weather.

“I had to make a decision over the weekend whether we commit to the stakes in Maryland or come to Oaklawn. It’s 900 miles from Ocala to Hot Springs, and about the same distance to Maryland, and we just decided at this point it might make more sense to come this direction.”

The Honeybee, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, is part of the Kentucky Oaks prep schedule administered by Churchill Downs. The winner Saturday will receive 50 preference points for the Oaks. In addition, the second- through fourth-place finishers in the Honeybee will earn points on a sliding scale of 20-10-5.

Taris, a daughter of the A.P. Indy stallion Flatter, won her debut in a maiden special weight race at six furlongs at Aqueduct on Dec. 21. She led throughout for an 11 3/4-length win, and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 88. In her only other start, she accounted for the Wide Country, a seven-furlong race at Laurel.

“When we ran her the first time, she ran lights-out,” Beattie said. “She ran good last time. She had 35 days from her first race to her second race, 10 days of which she was forced to stay in the barn because of obscure weather. We almost didn’t run in that race because of all the training missed. The filly had a good foundation in her before that, we took a chance, and it worked out for us.”

Beattie co-owns Taris with a group of six partners, including Todd Mostoller. The ownership is Commonwealth New Era Racing. Taris was a $90,000 yearling purchase at the Keeneland September sale in 2012. She was bred in Kentucky by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider.

The Honeybee is a stepping-stone to the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy at Oaklawn on April 5. Whether or not Taris comes under consideration for that race will be determined, said Beattie, who also has an eye on the Grade 2, $300,000 Gazelle at Aqueduct on April 5.

Clinton Potts has the mount on Taris.

Others pointing for the Honeybee include the first three finishers in the $100,000 Martha Washington at Oaklawn – Aragorn Ami, Euphrosyne, and Ireland – and Please Explain, the winner of the $66,000 Suncoast at Tampa Bay Downs. Please Explain will be ridden by Southern California-based apprentice Drayden Van Dyke, a graduate of Lake Hamilton High School near Hot Springs, Ark., according to the publicity department at Oaklawn.

The Honeybee will share a card with the $100,000 Hot Springs, a six-furlong race for 4-year-olds and up. The races were to be drawn Wednesday.