Photo: Oaklawn Park
Trainer Sal Santoro had never been to Oaklawn until a couple of weeks
ago, but on the advice of fellow horsemen, who suggested the best route
to Kentucky was through Hot Springs, he brought his star pupil,
Rose to Gold, and a few other horses to town for the meet. Saturday, Rose to
Gold takes the first step toward her ultimate goal of making the May 3
Kentucky Oaks (G1) when she starts as the 2-1 morning line favorite in
Saturday’s $75,000 Martha Washington Stakes. The race offers a total of
17 points based on Churchill Downs’ new criteria for making the Oaks
field.
The Friends Lake filly, who races for Katherine Amaya and her son
Raffaele Centofanti, is the only graded stakes winner in the field
having won the $500,000 Delta Princess (G3) in her final start as a
juvenile Nov. 17. She began her career by winning back-to-back stakes at
Calder by a combined 26 ½ lengths. Her only loss in four starts came at
Keeneland in the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) when she did not take to the
Polytrack. Jockey Juan Leyva comes in from Gulfstream Park for mount.
Poindexter Thorougbreds’ American Sugar poses the biggest threat to
Rose to Gold after already proving herself by winning Oaklawn’s $60,000
Dixie Belle by seven lengths over several in the Martha Washington
field. The Lynn Chleborad-trained Harlan’s Holiday filly drew post eight
and will start right next to the favorite, who had post nine.
“I was hoping for post six, but she’s won from the eight before,” said Chleborad. “She’s doing great. I’m excited.”
Among the newcomers in the Martha Washington is Cloudy in Sandiego,
who arrived this week from the Fair Grounds. She enters the one-mile
race off a front-running score in an optional allowance race at the New
Orleans track having successfully rebounded from a poor performance in
the Delta Princess. Prior to that race, she had finished in the
Pocahontas Stakes (G2) at Churchill.
“She’s really been training well here at Fair Grounds,” said trainer
Steve Margolis, who was en route to Oaklawn. “We’re ready for her to
step up and see where she fits among these fillies.”
The complete field for the $75,000 Martha Washington, in
post-position order, with riders and morning line odds:
Phonybooksnrecords, Rosemary Homeister Jr., 30-1; Cloudy in Sandiego,
Terry Thompson, 15-1; I Am Miss Brown, Luis Quinonez, 10-1; Sister
Ginger, Ricardo Santana Jr., 8-1; Lady Stonewall, Cliff Berry, 6-1;
Liberty Girl, Robby Albarado, 3-1; Broken Spell, Jon Court, 12-1;
American Sugar, Alex Birzer, 4-1, and Rose To Gold, Juan Leyva, 2-1.