Way too Smarte shows she likes the grass with Oak Brook triumph
Seven-year-old mare Way too Smarte won her first start in a turf route, wearing down pacesetting Cat Attack to capture the $75,000 Oak Brook Stakes on Saturday at Hawthorne Race Course.
Way too Smarte, making her 30th start, hadn’t tried grass until the father-son team of breeder Dennis Hughes and owner-trainer Tim Hughes tried the mare in a turf sprint on May 15. She rallied to win comfortably, earning a career-best 78 Beyer Speed Figure, after which connections supplemented her to the Oak Brook, restricted to Illinois-bred fillies and mares. And Way too Smarte, who raced for a $5,000 claiming tag in April, paid them right back.
Jockey Corey Orm said he was concerned Way too Smarte would leave the gate running and get too strong with him, but the mare settled easily into a mid-pack slot. Instead, it was 9-5 favorite Cat Attack pulling too hard, going her opening quarter-mile in 23.13 seconds. Leading by several lengths, Cat Attack finally appeared to switch off around the far turn, but the damage already had been done. Way too Smarte cornered awkwardly into the homestretch but gradually reeled in Cat Attack, who had no response the final half-furlong as Kingsbury Dream surged along the inside and nabbed second. Orm raised his fist in celebration as he crossed the wire, his first stakes win since 2019. Way too Smarte has gone 4-4 with Orm riding her.
Way too Smarte's winning time was 1:37.30 for one mile over good turf.
“She breaks, she relaxes, and just waits for me to ask her,” Orm said.
Way too Smarte, who won for the ninth time, is a daughter of Brave ‘n Away out of Hoosier Smarte, by Marte.
*** Bizzee Channel gamely held off Captivating Moon in a stakes-level turf allowance, race 6 on the Saturday card. Ridden by Jareth Loveberry for trainer Larry Rivelli, Bizzee Channel had raced noncompetitively May 7 in the Grade 1 Turf Classic at Churchill but fit this spot far better. Pressing the pace, he took over in upper stretch and repelled a sustained bid by Captivating Moon to win by a half-length. Bizzee Channel was timed in 1:37.73 for one mile on a “good” course and paid $4.20 as the favorite. A 6-year-old gelding, Bizzee Channel is by English Channel out of Bizzee Mizzee, by Mizzen Mast.