Red Lark could start in Belmont Oaks next

Red Lark won her Grade 1 debut in a 19-1 upset in Saturday’s $252,500 Del Mar Oaks. It could be the first of a collection of Grade 1 wins for owner Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners in the next few months in top-class races for 3-year-old fillies.

On Sunday, Red Lark was under consideration for the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks at 1 1/4 miles on turf on Sept. 19, according to Eclipse president Aron Wellman and trainer Paddy Gallagher. There are options in shorter races, but the Belmont Oaks distance appeals to Gallagher.

“She could be more competitive in races going a mile and an eighth or a mile and a quarter,” he said.

Red Lark could also start in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Keeneland on Oct. 10, if stablemate Sharing does not appear in the same race.

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“I’d like to be able to separate her and Sharing, if at all possible,” Wellman said.

Sharing, trained by Graham Motion, is best known for winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita last November. Sharing, co-owned by Eclipse and Gainesway Farm, was second by 4 1/2 lengths to Alpine Star in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot in England on June 20 in her most recent start.

Sharing is in training with Motion in Maryland and is expected to start in the Grade 2 Edgewood Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf at Churchill Downs on Sept. 4, Wellman said. Sharing was nominated for the Del Mar Oaks, but Red Lark was the stable’s runner after being supplemented for $2,500 when entries were taken.

It turned out to be a wise investment. Red Lark earned $150,000 and now has a career-defining win.

“I think we hit the target with this one,” Wellman said. “We knew the mile and an eighth is something she would relish. She picked a good day to get good.”

Gallagher, who has a 30-horse stable, had his first Grade 1 win with Red Lark since Magical Fantasy won the 2009 Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Santa Anita.

“It’s been awhile,” he said.

Gallagher has had at least one graded stakes win annually since 2015. The Del Mar Oaks was Red Lark’s third appearance in a graded stakes. She was fourth in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita on May 30 against 3-year-olds and second in the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes against older fillies and mares on June 20.

“She was doing very good,” Gallagher said. “She had to run the race of her life and she did.”