Sharp shippers take on local monster in Charles Town Oaks
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Trainer Michael Stidham has pointed Luv Your Neighbor to the Charles Town Oaks for a couple of months. Louisiana-based Pat Devereux, who trains Little Miss Curlin, has eyed the race for even longer.
“This is her Kentucky Derby,” Devereux said.
But neither Stidham, Devereux, or anyone else could have expected Friday night’s Grade 2, $500,000 Charles Town Oaks to run through an unbeaten, locally based West Virginia-bred.
At a Premium has not defeated a single horse anywhere near the level of her leading rivals in the seven-furlong, two-turn Charles Town Oaks, but one needs to reach for a stronger word than “defeated” to describe the nature of her four wins.
Bet down to 1-2 debuting March 26, At a Premium somehow managed to win a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race by a massive 13 1/2 lengths. Stretched by trainer David Walters to two-turn Charles Town sprints, At a Premium ran through two allowance conditions and a West Virginia-bred stakes race, winning by nearly 28 combined lengths.
At a Premium has loads of early speed and races aggressively, but she also has shown no signs of tiring in races up to seven furlongs. How she’ll fare when confronted by a horse of comparable quality remains unknown – and that’s what’s going to happen Friday night.
Stidham, who trains Luv Your Neighbor for Lael Stables, eyed this race because of its seven-furlong distance and configuration – two turns around Charles Town’s six-furlong oval with a short run from the top of the stretch to the finish. Finishing second in the Untapable, the Silverbulletday, and the Rachel Alexandra – two-turn winter stakes at long-stretch Fair Grounds – Luv Your Neighbor either was hanging late or merely running out of gas. It was probably the latter, but another second in the seven-furlong, one-turn Eight Belles at Churchill suggested true sprints are slightly too sharp for Luv Your Neighbor, a plucky, likable daughter of Constitution.
Luv Your Neighbor lost ground on both turns but still managed to break through in a June 13 route, the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks, earning a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure. The focus since has turned to the Charles Town Oaks. Stidham has gone 9 for 31 at Charles Town dating to 2010 and sends a fresh, fit, good-feeling filly from his Delaware base.
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“She’s just a horse who never has a bad day,” he said.
Little Miss Curlin shipped from Evangeline Downs in Louisiana to Charles Town earlier this week for Devereux, who sports a 14-for-37 win mark this season. The Louisiana-bred filly has six wins from eight starts and plausible excuses in her two defeats. She also won her debut at Delta Downs, a small-oval racetrack like Charles Town, and Devereux sent her to Delta for an Aug. 8 breeze just to remind the filly what running very tight turns felt like.
Little Miss Curlin settled nicely along the rail, came off the fence turning for home, and beat the tough older mare Beleout in a 5 1/2-furlong race that was short of her best distance. The July 16 Evangeline race was a prep for this rich opportunity.
“Perfect race for her,” Devereux said. “Every time she’s gotten behind horses, I love the way she’s relaxed. I was hoping for an inside post, and I see at least three speed horses here.”
Little Miss Curlin breaks from Post 1 under Jareth Loveberry, who’s 4 for 4 on the filly.
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. entered two, Tessellate and Tahlequah. The latter is cross-entered at Saratoga, but both fillies will run at Charles Town, Joseph said.
Pearl of Pearl is the race’s only easy toss. Niche and Now Or Nevermore, the latter an eye-catching debut winner sprinting on Colonial Downs turf, are the pace players, along with At a Premium, the unbeaten West Virginia-bred who gets her first real test in the Charles Town Oaks.
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