Simply Ravishing's retirement latest blow to hard-hit division

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The retirement of Simply Ravishing this week further served to illustrate just how much turnover has occurred in the highest echelons of the current 3-year-old filly division.

With the April 30 Kentucky Oaks just ahead, the division has undergone wholesale changes at the top. The horses who dominated as 2-year-olds of 2020, including Simply Ravishing, have been non-factors since the calendar turned. In that context, all the leading candidates for the Oaks are new faces.

Trainer Kenny McPeek cited a “minor breathing problem” when announcing the retirement of Simply Ravishing on Wednesday. The New York-bred filly faded to finish last of six in her lone start at 3, the April 3 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. McPeek said she will be bred in the coming weeks, with the aim of selling her at auction in November.

Simply Ravishing is owned by the partnership of Harold Lerner, Magdalena Racing, and Nehoc Stables. In two Keeneland races last fall, the daughter of Laoban won the Grade 1 Alcibiades before finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, a race that has produced only one collective win from the seven who ran, that being the Gulfstream Oaks triumph by the McPeek-trained Crazy Beautiful (sixth in the BC Juvenile Fillies).

The respective 1-2-3 finishers – Vequist, Dayoutoftheoffice, and Girl Daddy – have a grand total of one subsequent start between them, and that was a 26-length defeat for Vequist. The other also-rans have all retired, those being Simply Ravishing, Princess Noor, and Thoughtfully.

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With the final four Oaks qualifiers having been run last weekend, divisional supremacy clearly is up for grabs. Churchill Downs officials are closely monitoring the list of probable starters for the 1 1/8-mile filly classic, with the top six points earners being Search Results, winner of the Gazelle; Travel Column, winner of the March 20 Fair Grounds Oaks; Crazy Beautiful; Pauline’s Pearl, winner of the Fantasy; Malathaat, winner of the Ashland; and Soothsay, winner of the Santa Anita Oaks.

Soothsay, Maracuja and Competitive Speed are among several fillies expected to be made eligible to the Oaks by a $1,500 late nominations payment due this weekend. Adventuring, winner of the Bourbonette, will not be late-nominated, Brad Cox said Friday.

The Oaks is limited to 14 starters, with as many as four more making up an also-eligibles list. Entries will be drawn April 26.

Other fillies who appear to be safely in on points are Clairiere, Beautiful Gift, Will’s Secret, Millefeuille, Moraz, Ava’s Grace, Pass the Champagne, and Maracuja. On the bubble are The Grass Is Blue, Coach, and Moon Swag.

Trainer George Weaver said this week at Keeneland that Pass the Champagne, beaten just a head by Malathaat in the Ashland, has returned to her winter quarters at Palm Beach Downs in Delray Beach, Fla., to train toward the Oaks. “It’s a perfect setup for us down there,” said Weaver.