Oceanwave, Sarah Sis among Fantasy starters with eye on Oaks

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – It is final auditions for the Kentucky Oaks for the 11 fillies who were entered Wednesday in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy Stakes. Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile race opens the annual Racing Festival of the South at Oaklawn Park, where at least one major stakes is carded on each of the programs making up the final week of the meet. The season wraps April 11.

The Fantasy will award its winner 100 eligibility points for the Kentucky Oaks, which will be run at Churchill Downs on May 1. The second- through fourth-place finishers also will pick up points on a sliding scale of 40-20-10. For most of the fillies in the Fantasy, the hope is to advance to the Kentucky Oaks.

“If we got the right performance, we’d go to the Oaks,” said Wayne Catalano, who trains the Fantasy starter Oceanwave.

Oceanwave, who enters off a runner-up finish to Sarah Sis in the Grade 3 Honeybee at Oaklawn, will face that one again Saturday. Oceanwave will break from post 10 under Ramon Vazquez, while Sarah Sis drew the rail and is to be ridden by Julio Felix.

Pangburn, who was third in the Honeybee, also returns in the Fantasy. Her prospects for advancing to the Oaks, much like Oceanwave, will depend on her effort Saturday.

“I think she needs to run well in this race to justify the Oaks,” said trainer Ken McPeek.

Pangburn will add blinkers and break from post 7 under Jesus Castanon.

The locals will face a good number of invaders. Feathered, who is multiple Grade 1-placed, drew post 4 for trainer Todd Pletcher, while Lady Tapit is in gate 5 for trainer John Sadler. Achiever’s Legacy, a stakes winner for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, breaks from post 8, while Include Betty, a stakes winner for trainer Tom Proctor, drew post 11.

From the rail, the field, with riders, is: Sarah Sis (Felix), Sweet Opportunity (Luis Quinonez), Harlan’s Belle (Jon Court), Feathered (Ricardo Santana Jr.), Lady Tapit (Tiago Pereira), Purr (Joe Johnson), Pangburn (Castanon), Achiever’s Legacy (Joe Rocco Jr.), Super Saks (Terry Thompson), Oceanwave (Vazquez), Include Betty (Rosemary Homeister Jr.).

Super Saks will remove blinkers. She worked without them Monday, breezing five furlongs in a bullet 58.20 seconds at Oaklawn.

The Fantasy will go as the ninth race on a 10-race program at 5:09 p.m. Central. The forecast for Saturday is sunny with a high of 65 degrees, according to The Weather Channel.