Oeuvre back on best surface for Nelson Menard Memorial

The 4-year-old filly Oeuvre’s 2022 campaign hardly could’ve worked out better: seven wins from eight starts. Her 2023 season begins Saturday at Fair Grounds in the $100,000 Nelson Menard Memorial, where bettors would find hard work extracting value from Oeuvre if her 2-1 morning line price holds.

Odds aside, 4-year-old Oeuvre holds ample appeal going 5 1/2 furlongs on grass Saturday, though this may be a tougher race than any she has won. Touch of Class and Violenza put forth performances within the last year competitive with anything Oeuvre has mustered. Astute is a long-layoff wild card, and improving. Outside-drawn Aboukir Bay brings the right outside closing style to the Menard.

Temporary turf rail placement at 34 feet restricts field size to eight (leaving five Menard entrants on the also-eligible list), and grass racing last Fair Grounds meet conducted with the rail in its outermost position produced a bias favoring wide closers. That’s happened again in limited races this meet, a mark against pace players like Astute and Charlie T.

Astute was among the fastest 2-year-old California fillies of 2020, winning her debut turf sprinting and airing on dirt in the Desi Arnaz. She won another dirt stakes in May 2021, and hasn’t raced since. Astute makes her first start for trainer Brad Cox, whose general reputation and particular Fair Grounds meet record (31-14-9-1) probably makes her an unplayable short price given her layoff and the expected race shape.

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Violenza, sold at a November auction for $210,000, hasn’t won since July 2021 but shows three performances last summer and fall that put her in contention. Her outside-closing style fits the course, and new trainer Brendan Walsh tries blinkers for the first time in the mare’s career.

While Violenza’s 7-2 morning-line price would be hard to take, the line lists Aboukir Bay at a juicier 15-1. The lightly raced 4-year-old filly’s strong final quarter propelled her from eighth to first as she hit a career peak winning a Keeneland turf sprint in October. That was a mere first-level allowance and Aboukir Bay needs another new top, which is plausible.

Touch of Class peaked in October capturing a second level Keeneland turf-sprint allowance, where she ran down fast stakes-winning filly Empress Tigress. Her siblings One Mean Man and Mizz Money won Fair Grounds turf stakes, and Touch of Class cleared her first allowance condition over the course. Her fourth-place finish Dec. 3 in the Pan Zareta is forgiven because the race was run on dirt.

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Here’s the thing: Oeuvre won the Pan Zareta and five other dirt races despite being a better grass horse.

“I feel that way. On turf, she really extends herself,” said Chris Block, who trains Oeuvre for breeder Richard Perkins. “She’s been really good on dirt; those turf races were better.”

The best of them likely was the filly’s lone 2022 defeat, when she lost focus on the backstretch of the Kentucky Downs course, jockey Joel Rosario told Block, before closing from ninth to nab third. A similar trip Saturday and Oeuvre and jockey Jareth Loveberry likely get home. We’ll just have to see at what price.

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