Talk Veuve to Me the filly to beat in Indiana Oaks

If she had to, Talk Veuve to Me could probably outsmart her seven rivals in the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks on Saturday night at Indiana Grand, but outrunning them is likely to suffice.

The brainy Talk Veuve to Me is more than a shed-row genius – though she is also that. Trainer Rodolphe Brisset calls her perhaps the smartest horse he’s ever been around during about 20 years in racing. The filly has talent to match.

Talk Veuve to Me raced once last year at 2, finishing second Aug. 12 in an Ellis Park maiden race Brisset thought his filly couldn’t lose. She came out of the race with a stress fracture in a tibia, an injury that required time but no surgery, and after a good long rest, Talk Veuve to Me returned with a bang March 25 at Fair Grounds, winning a six-furlong maiden race by more than 11 lengths.

The performance caught the eye of Team Valor International’s principal, Barry Irwin, who bought into the filly, joining Brisset, who had purchased her privately after Talk Veuve to Me failed to meet her reserve at a spring 2-year-old in training sale. Brisset’s friend from New Zealand Stephen McKay also bought into the horse.

Talk Veuve to Me jumped straight into the Grade 2 Eight Belles over seven furlongs, where she chased the very fast and more experienced Mia Mischief around the track and finished second. Next came the Grade 1 Acorn over one mile at Belmont, where Talk Veuve to Me easily beat four horses but, after contesting the pace, could not match late stride with divisional leader Monomoy Girl.

Now comes Talk Veuve to Me’s first try around two turns in the 1 1/16-mile Oaks, and Brisset, who has ridden his filly in plenty of morning exercise, is convinced the extra bend and additional distance will only help her. Talk Veuve to Me is by Violence out of Biblical Point, and her dam showed a preference for routes during her racing career.

Brisset has known fellow Frenchman Julien Leparoux a long time, but Leparoux gets his first chance to ride Talk Veuve to Me in a race Saturday night. He’ll be aboard an odds-on favorite who will be difficult to deny.

Skeptic, Figarella’s Queen, and Kelly’s Humor will take some play as exotic partners with the favorite, but the preferred second choice is Harbor Lights. The trainer of Harbor Lights, Steve Asmussen, has wrung tremendous improvement in recent months from the 3-year-old filly She’s a Julie, the recent Iowa Oaks winner, and Harbor Lights, racing for just the sixth time and making her first start since April, has room to come forward. It was she who handed Talk Veuve to Me her debut defeat last summer in Kentucky. A repeat of that result is unlikely, but second wouldn’t be bad for Harbor Lights.