Six furlongs too short for Oh So Easy

NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Ohio's 2003 champion 3-year-filly, Oh So Easy, heads a field of nine Ohio-bred fillies and mares in Saturday's $40,000 Brent's Princess Stakes at Thistledown.

Oh So Easy, who will run coupled with Kiosk, was second, beaten a half-length, in a 7 1/2-furlong allowance on the turf at River Downs on May 7. In her only other start this year, she was unplaced in a middle-distance allowance at Mountaineer.

Oh So Easy won four Ohio-bred stakes last year to dominate the 3-year-old division, but has yet to win at a distance less than one mile and Saturday's race is at six furlongs. She will carry high weight of 120 pounds and be ridden by Ricardo Feliciano.

The main opposition should come from Spring Cat and Mercer's Launch.

Spring Cat is a quick 3-year-old who will be trying older horses for the first time. She closed out last season with back-to-back stakes wins at six furlongs and comes into the race with a bullet five-furlong work. Spring Cat likes to run on or near the lead, and she could wire this field. Trained by Joe Martin, Spring Cat will be ridden by Huber Villa-Gomez at 113 pounds.

Mercer's Launch is a consistent 5-year-old mare who finished third in the six- furlong Angenora Stakes here on April 24. She has the speed to contest the early fractions. Hector Rosario Jr. will ride for trainer Luis Albert Palacios at 116 pounds.