Saturday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Jockey Club Oaks distance no issue for Last Call

Belmont at the Big A | Race 9 | Post Time 5:21 p.m. (ET)

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Handicappers have to make a decision about European shipper Eternal Hope (#6) in this Jockey Club Oaks. If she repeats her last effort at Deauville in France, she’s going to be a handful for this field. She’s already proven that she handles the distance – a major question mark for others in this field – and she faced a couple of strong rivals in that last start. Winner Jannah Rose had previously won the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary and runner-up Lumiere Rock returned to win the Group 2 Blandford in her next start. Eternal Hope’s prior form is a little less compelling, and Charlie Appleby hasn’t been as potent with his North American shippers this year as in prior seasons, so you have to decide how short a price you’re willing to take.

Among her main rivals is Highland Grace (#5), who is another that has previously handled the distance. She won her maiden going 11 furlongs at Belmont in early June before beating older rivals in an allowance race last time. I thought she caught a pretty weak field for the N1X condition that day, but she did run well within the context of the race, overcoming a slow pace in a race dominated by forwardly placed runners. I expect her to run well, but she does need to improve again.

There isn’t that much speed signed on, which might make Quarrel (#2) dangerous. Yet she’s another who didn’t beat much when she won an allowance race last time. The good news is that she and that race’s fourth-place finisher, Stephanie’s Charm (#4), have pedigree to stretch out despite having never gone this far.

My top pick is Last Call (#1). This filly achieved her only victory when upsetting the Grade 1 Natalma as a 2-year-old last season, but that performance was no fluke. She had gotten a tough trip in her prior start and validated that form when she returned to run a respectable sixth in the Breeders’ Cup next time. This year, she took a few starts to shake off the rust when she returned from a layoff, but she’s shown improvement recently since stretching out in distance. She should have attained a higher placing in the Ontario Colleen when getting caught in traffic in the final furlong. And then last time she got a strange trip in the Dueling Grounds Oaks. She was far back early and had plenty of run in upper stretch, where Joel Rosario decided to angle inside and take his chances coming up the rail. She briefly had to pause in traffic but was finishing well late in a race otherwise dominated by horses who moved outside. That effort showed this daughter of English Channel handles the distance, and this field didn’t come up that much tougher.