Oaks Contender: Princess Arabella

The sun was setting on the year of 2011 as a chestnut filly paraded before the grandstand at Santa Anita Park in Peachtree Stable’s silks. In minutes, a maiden special weight for juvenile fillies, who the next day would be declared three-year-olds, would be run. It was their last chance to get a victory as a two-year-old. The chestnut filly carrying the purple colors of Peachtree was one of only two first-time starters in the field, but was certainly the most highly-regarded filly entered, as she went off at even-money.

After breaking slowly, Princess Arabella gained on the leaders with every stride, always growing closer to the lead. Under Martin Garcia, the Bob Baffert trainee swung wide on the far turn, floating effortlessly to a victory that resulted in a final winning margin of 3 ½ lengths. By the end of the six-furlong race, many people were talking about Princess Arabella. Lofty hopes and dreams were already pinned to her.

With the champion two-year-old filly of 2011, My Miss Aurelia, out of the picture with sore shins and arguably the best California juvenile filly, Weemissfrankie, also out with an injury, many Kentucky Oaks (GI) dreams found their way to Princess Arabella. She was just a maiden winner, but when she loaded into the starting gate on February 12, 2012 in an allowance race at Santa Anita, those dreams had a chance to expand.

Princess Arabella did not disappoint. The distance of her second start was just one furlong longer than her debut, so the chestnut filly would still only be racing around one turn. In a field of five, Princess Arabella found herself in third for most of the race before striking to the lead under light urging to gallop to another 3 ½-length victory.

Talk of the Kentucky Oaks regarding Princess Arabella heated up. Baffert pointed the filly to the Sunland Park Oaks, the same race that Plum Pretty won by 25 lengths in 2011 before triumphing in the Kentucky Oaks. Facing stakes company for the first time, Princess Arabella used a new tactic, breaking like a rocket from the starting gate to find the lead in her first try around two turns. She did not look back from there, going on to effortlessly win the mile and one-sixteenth race by 8 lengths.

With her remarkably easy win, Princess Arabella likely stamped herself as the current favorite for the Kentucky Oaks. There are still just less forty days until the prestigious race for sophomore fillies, but this filly, who I have followed since nearly the beginning of her career, has clearly declared herself to be one of the most talented three-year-old fillies in the nation. Princess Arabella has not yet faced very tough horses, but in winning the Sunland Park Oaks, she defeated the stakes-winning and graded stakes-placed Glinda the Good, the stakes-winning horses Take Me Away Today and Regal Betty, and the stakes-placed Ize in Trouble. By easily defeating Glinda the Good, she effortlessly conquered a filly who faced one of the top-rated sophomore fillies in the nation, On Fire Baby.

Her pedigree suggests that she will also have no trouble getting the nine-furlong distance of the Oaks. She is by Any Given Saturday, the winner of the 2007 Haskell Invitational (GI, 9F), the Brooklyn Handicap (GII, 9F), and the Dwyer Stakes (GII, 8.5F). Princess Arabella is a member of his first crop, which includes horses that have already been proven at races at one mile or longer. For instance, his daughter, Sunday’s Child, is a black-type winner at one mile on the grass, and his son, Saturday Launch, is an allowance optional claiming winner over one mile on the turf at Gulfstream. Any Given Saturday is by Distorted Humor, who can obviously produce distances horses. He is, of course, the sire of the Belmont Stakes (GI, 12F)- and Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI, 10F)-winning Drosselmeyer, the Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship Stakes (GI, 10F)- and San Luis Rey (GII, 12F)-winning Fourty Niners Son, and the Kentucky Derby (GI, 10F)- and Preakness Stakes (GI, 9.5F)-winning Funny Cide.

Princess Arabella’s dam, Tortuga Lady, is by the 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes-winning Thunder Gulch and out of a Conquistador Cielo (also a Belmont winner) mare. In addition to producing Princess Arabella, Tortuga Lady has produced the filly’s half-sister, Dyna’s Lassie, a stakes winner and multiple stakes-placed mare. Tortuga Lady is full sister to the late Invisible Ink, third-place finisher in the 2001 Florida Derby (GI) and runner-up in that year’s Kentucky Derby.

Princess Arabella descends from female family two, the same family that has produced the great champions Busted, Cigar, Go for Wand, Northern Dancer, Phar Lap, Secretariat, and With Approval. Recent family two stars include Dreaming of Anna, Giacomo, Gio Ponti, Kitten’s Joy, Point Given, and Shackleford.

This filly could certainly be on an ascent to stardom. With her sheer talent and promising pedigree, Princess Arabella packs undeniable potential to not only become a graded stakes winner or even the Kentucky Oaks winner, but a fan favorite. She has not yet been tested and is already beginning to capture the hearts of racing fans. This excitement is only aided by her flawless race record. Princess Arabella could very well go on to do great things and produce a huge fan base along the way.


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Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic

With super-mare Havre de Grace attempting to follow in the footsteps of Zenyatta by  running in the Classic rather than the Ladies’ Classic and Blind Luck likely retired, the appeal of the Ladies’ Classic turns to the three-year-old fillies. The sophomore fillies have battled it out, either defeating each other by narrow margins or dominating each other. The Ladies’ Classic will likely decide the filly that will be awarded the Eclipse Award for Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

1. Plum Pretty: The Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner is returning to the place of her greatest victory. Just like the Oaks, the Ladies’ Classic will be run over a mile and one-eighth on the Churchill Downs main track. The filly, who worked six furlongs in 1:12.40 on October 24, will likely be the favorite for the Ladies’ Classic.

The daughter of Medaglia d’Oro kicked off her career on October 27, 2010 in a maiden race at Oak Tree at Hollywood Park, winning by a head. At the beginning of her three-year-old year, Plum Pretty finished third in both the Santa Ynez Stakes (GII) and Las Virgenes Stakes (GI) at Santa Anita. Then came an absolute monster performance. In her final prep for the Kentucky Oaks, the bay filly won the Sunland Park Oaks by an incredible 25 lengths.

Sent off as the fourth choice in the Kentucky Oaks, Plum Pretty lasted in the final yards to win by a neck despite a rough start. Next time out, Plum Pretty finished second to Zazu, who I believe is the best three-year-old filly in the country, in the Hollywood Oaks (GII).

Her trainer, Bob Baffert, then brought her out to the East Coast. Plum Pretty finished a game second to It’s Tricky, who would become her rival, in the TVG Coaching Club American Oaks (GI) before her start in the mile and one-quarter Alabama Stakes (GI), in which she tired to finish fourth.

Then came a resurgence. In the Cotillion Stakes (GII) at Parx Racing, Plum Pretty defeated her rival It’s Tricky by 7 ½ lengths. It could be described as a monster performance. We all know what Plum Pretty did last time after a monster performance: she won the Kentucky Oaks.

2. It’s Tricky: Not all horses fit their name, but It’s Tricky does. The daughter of Mineshaft is known for her tricky behavior. She bites, she kicks, and she even throws her jockey off before being led into the winner’s circle. However, she is extremely talented on the track.

Out of graded stakes-winning Catboat, It’s Tricky wheeled off three wins at Aqueduct at the beginning of her career, including the Busher Stakes. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin then shipped her to Gulfstream Park in Florida to run in the Gulfstream Oaks (GII). It’s Tricky didn’t have it that day and finished fourth.

She returned to New York, making her first start in two months in the TVG Acorn Stakes (GI) on Belmont day. She impressed many that day, defeating Turbulent Descent on a muddy track by nearly four lengths. In the CCA Oaks, she made it two wins in a row, defeating Plum Pretty by three-quarters of a length.

After those two wins came two second place finishes. McLaughlin has been working the filly at the half-mile distance. In her most recent breeze, It’s Tricky turned in an official time of 49.43 at Belmont Park. The filly will face a tough task in the Breeders’ Cup, but she is always one to watch out for.

3. Royal Delta: The three-year-old daughter of grade three-winner Delta Princess is coming into the Breeders’ Cup after a crushing defeat in the Beldame Invitational Stakes (GI). However, she won’t be a long shot. The horse that beat her by 8 ¼ lengths last out was Havre de Grace. Royal Delta still ran her race and finished second, crossing the wire nearly six lengths ahead of the third place-finisher.

Royal Delta broke her maiden on October 30, 2010 as a two-year-old, winning by 12 lengths. She began 2011 at Tampa Bay Downs in March in the Suncoast Stakes, running a very disappointing ninth. She rebounded a month later in an allowance at Keeneland, drawing away by three lengths for the victory. Then the filly by Empire Maker made herself known. The day before the Preakness, she won the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (GII) by 2 ½ lengths despite drifting towards the rail.

After missing the Mother Goose Stakes (GI) due to a foot bruise, Royal Delta returned in the CCA Oaks. She was no match for It’s Tricky and Plum Pretty that day and finished third. Trainer Bill Mott believed that she’d run too far off the pace.

It all changed in the Alabama a month later. Sent off at odds of 5-1, Royal Delta exploded in the stretch to win by 5 ½ lengths despite lugging in sharply in reaction to the whip. Her second place finish in the Beldame followed that dominating win.

However, I worry that Royal Delta’s win in the Alabama was exaggerated. The distance of a mile and one-quarter was farther than any of the fillies had traveled. The final quarter of a mile in that race was 26.08, a very slow time. Royal Delta, by a Belmont Stakes winner and out of a mare that won route races on the turf, was likely more prepared than the other fillies to run the distance, mostly because of her breeding and because she was fresher than the others. She will need to give it everything she has come Breeders’ Cup weekend, but she seems to be capable of doing so.

4. Ultra Blend: This five-year-old California-bred mare has not finished off the board this year. However, her start in the Breeders’ Cup will be her only start outside of California. That is definitely something to worry about, but this mare seems to have plenty of talent.

Ultra Blend’s first start of the year was a third in the Sunshine Millions Distaff Stakes, in which she finished behind Evening Jewel and Amazing. She reeled off three consecutive wins after that: the first two in state-bred stakes and the third in the Milady Handicap (GII) , in which Ultra Blend got moved into first after St. Trinians was disqualified.

Her performance in the Milady began her journey in graded stakes races. Ultra Blend missed out on a win in the A Gleam Handicap (GII) when she rallied to miss by a nose to Irish Gypsy. Three weeks later, Ultra Blend showed everyone what she was made of by defeating a strong group of fillies and mares, including Zazu, in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (GI). Zazu got the best of her next time out in the Lady’s Secret Stakes (GI), but the John Sadler trainee is out of the Breeders’ Cup with shoulder inflammation.

Not only does Ultra Blend have talent, but she is an underdog. The five-year-old started off her career in claiming races before quickly climbing the ranks. It’s not often that a winner of state-bred stakes races goes on to win a grade one, let alone run in the Breeders’ Cup.

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