Streamline takes Bayakoa with strong finish

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Brian Williamson said earlier this week that this could be the final year of racing for Streamline.

It looks like it could be a fun one.

Streamline, 6, trailed early in the Grade 3, $150,000 Bayakoa on Saturday at Oaklawn before roaring to 1 1/2-length victory over Terra Promessa.

“I sure liked this race,” Williamson said. “It sure was impressive.”

Farrell, who was the favorite after winning the Pippin Stakes last month at Oaklawn, was squeezed into the first turn and raced off the pace before being eased across the wire. She returned to her handlers to be unsaddled and walked back to the barn. Trainer Wayne Catalano said he felt she did not handle the surface, which was sloppy and sealed Saturday.

“She’s won on the mud, she's won on a wet-fast track, and this was sealed,” Catalano said. “I thought we were good. She trained all week long on it, but I guess this confirmed she doesn't like it."

Streamline ($8.40) was content to let the pace go as Defy took the field through fractions of 22.90 seconds for the opening quarter and 46.61 for the half-mile before Terra Promessa took over through six furlongs in 1:12.83.

Streamline made a steady advance under jockey Gary Stevens and won with authority in a finish that thrilled Williamson.

“I loved it,” Williamson said. “I was a little concerned that she was as far back as she was, but then I saw her creeping up around the second turn – and I knew we had horse – so I knew we were going to get a part of it, it looked like, as long as she kept coming the way she was.

“She was on her game today.”

Streamline covered the 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares in 1:47.22. She earned $90,000 for the win, her eighth from 21 starts. Streamline, who is by Straight Line, has now earned $793,166. She races for her breeder, Nancy Vanier, and Cartwright Thoroughbreds.

Williamson said Streamline will be pointed to the Grade 2, $350,000 Azeri on March 17 at Oaklawn. She won the race last year. The Azeri is the final local stepping-stone to the Grade 1, $700,000 Apple Blossom here April 13.