Princess Erindelle enters Northbound Pride Oaks as horse to beat
Princess Erindelle won one stakes race and finished third in another at boxcar odds earlier this year at Fair Grounds, but the days of being an overlay are over for now, with Prince Erindelle the likely favorite Saturday at Canterbury Park in the $75,000 Northbound Pride Oaks.
Princess Erindelle finished a decent, deep-closing third at odds of 27-1 in the Joseph “Spanky” Broussard Stakes on Feb. 5 at Fair Grounds, but bettors seemed to pay that performance barely any heed when she returned a month later in the Allen “Black Cat” Lacombe. Princess Erindelle had a tough draw that day, took a hearty bump at the start, raced from 13th place, and still got up to win at 25-1.
That ship has sailed now, as Princess Erindelle is priced at 3-1 on Canterbury’s morning line and could go off lower than that. She and jockey Dean Butler have the outside post in a nine-horse field of 3-year-old fillies who will race about one mile on turf. Hugh Robertson has been training Princess Erindelle at Arlington, but she’s been moved into the barn of Hugh’s son Mac in advance of her race Saturday.
Princess Erindelle has a touch more tactical pace than she showed in her last two and might need to employ it in a race that could unfold at a modest tempo. Robertson also entered Beach Flower, who has some pace and could contest the early lead.
Celestial Insight, who won her first two starts and faced males in her two most recent starts, could be a bit better than her seventh-place finish in a Churchill second-level turf allowance May 29. Frozen Hannah, drawn on the rail, won a first-level, age-restricted turf allowance last out at Indiana Grand. Inconclusive has a chance to win as well, having finished only a nose behind Princess Erindelle in the Broussard a few races ago at Fair Grounds.
The Northbound Pride goes as race 9 and is directly preceded by the $75,000 Dark Star over 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt for older horses. There’s plenty of pace entered here, including He’s So Zazzy, who crushed fellow 3-year-olds in the $41,000 Paul Bunyan last month at Canterbury, and Candy Ruby, one of two entrants from trainer Robertino Diodoro. The other is Space Mine, who ran down Candy Ruby in a recent Canterbury allowance sprint and can be rated enough to get an ideal stalking trip Saturday.