Trainer Ortiz says Quietside peaking just in time for Kentucky Oaks
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Quietside emerged from her Saturday win in the Grade 2, $750,000 Fantasy at Oaklawn Park in excellent condition and will be based at Keeneland in the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Oaks, trainer John Ortiz said Sunday.
Quietside will start as one of the chief contenders in the Kentucky Oaks after winning both the Fantasy – which produced last year’s Oaks winner in Thorpedo Anna – and the Honeybee, in which she defeated Gulfstream Oaks winner Five G.
In the Fantasy, Quietside and the previously unbeaten Simply Joking went at it through the lane, with Quietside eventually prevailing by three-quarters of a length for a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 91.
“That was exciting,” Ortiz said Sunday. “It’s good horse racing, at its best. I don’t remember the last time we saw two good fillies battling down the stretch like that. It’s been a while, so it’s good to see that.”
Jose Ortiz, aboard Quietside, won the Fantasy one race before taking the Arkansas Derby on Sandman.
John Ortiz was pleased with Quietside on Sunday.
“She’s great,” he said. “She had cleaned up all her feed, is bright-eyed, met us at the front of the stall this morning when we came in.
“The plan is to ship up to Kentucky on Tuesday. She’ll train at Keeneland, then we’ll ship into Churchill for her final workout and the big race.”
Quietside has wintered at Oaklawn. John Ortiz has a division here, and at Keeneland.
“She’s just developed, that’s been the whole key,” he said. “We’re trying to make a racehorse and we have her peaking at the right time for the right race.”
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