Oresia remains a mystery to trainer

ALBANY, Calif. - Four last-out winners are among the seven entrants in Friday's Golden Gate Fields feature, a $40,000 starter allowance at six furlongs for 2-year-old fillies.

Oresia, Getinthereonetime, Tail Spin Topper, and Minnow all won their last start, graduating in claiming races ranging from the bottom-level $12,500 to $40,000.

Because the fillies can't be claimed out of the starter allowance, it gives trainers a chance to assess them without risking them for a tag.

The race will give trainer Ed Moger Jr. another opportunity to try to figure out what type of runner Oresia is. The Curt and Lila Lanning homebred won her debut in a $20,000 maiden claimer by eight lengths on Oct. 17. She grabbed the lead early, maintaining a one-length margin to the quarter pole before pulling away in the lane.

So what did Moger learn?

"I learned she could beat that field," he said.

Grabbing the lead despite modest fractions (46.27 seconds for the half-mile) and winning in a fairly slow time (1:12.21) did not tell Moger much. Two-year-olds are still learning how to run and sorting themselves out, so Moger isn't sure about the strength of the field Oresia beat.

But that was only her debut, and improvement is quite possible.

"She was doing well in training, but we weren't sure how good she was," Moger said. "We were trying to put her someplace where she might be competitive. We weren't stealing a race or anything."

Moger was willing to run her back in a $25,000 claimer, but the race didn't go, so he opted to go here.

Oresia has had three steady maintenance drills at Bay Meadows since her debut.

"She's always trained well," Moger said. "She's come back to work nicely."

All four of the last-out winners went wire to wire, and Oresia's fractions were the slowest of that group. Getinthereonetime, who had trailed in a pair of stakes earlier in her career, went in 44.99 for her opening half in a $40,000 maiden claimer at Oak Tree on Oct. 24.

Tail Spin Topper, a $32,000 claiming winner, and Minnow, who won for a $12,500 tag, both won their first starts after claims.

Oh the Joy, a wire-to-wire maiden winner at Fairplex who was part of the pace picture in a $40,000 starter allowance at a mile on Oct. 18, draws the outside post and looks to be a strong contender.

Salt Castle, third in the Barretts Debutante, and Betterwinsome round out the field.