With a near 100% chance of precipitation in greater Tampa, Saturday's GIII Florida Oaks is at the mercy of Mother Nature, but whether the race remains on the grass or is transferred to the main track, the Mike Dini-owned and -trained Alittleloveandluck (Arrogate) stands an excellent shot of getting her picture taken post-race.
The gray tried open company in her first three appearances, rounding out the triple in a one-mile Parx maiden in October before besting her fellow Florida-breds by a nose in a sythetic-track test at Gulfstream Nov. 12. Up late to take the grassy Ginger Brew S. Jan. 1–in which she had next-out GIII Sweetest Chant S. heroine Opalina (Optimizer) back in third–Alittleloveandluck was second–albeit well-beaten–behind the promising Nest (Curlin) in the Feb. 12 Suncoast S. over the local main track.
Domain Expertise (Kitten's Joy) gave trainer Chad Brown a second Florida Oaks last year and the conditioner has a pair of entrants to try to put them back-to-back. Spicer (Quality Road), a debut third at Belmont Oct. 9, was a convincing 3 3/4-length maiden winner–with Ambitieuse (Medaglia d'Oro) third–at Aqueduct Nov. 19 and adds Lasix for this potential return to action. Brown also saddles French import Dolce Zel (Fr) (Zelzal {Fr}), well-beaten in her Dieppe debut last July, but a latest 24-1 winner of a ParisLongchamp maiden for Alessandro and Giuseppe Botti Oct. 14. The bay would almost certainly come out of the race if removed from the turf.
Ambitieuse progressed from her debut third to graduate when tried over the Gulfstream Tapeta Dec. 29 and finished full of run when going down by three-parts of a length in the Sweetest Chant. Bred on the same cross that has produced MGISW Elate and a similar one to multiple champion Songbird, Ambitieuse is also a candidate to contest a main-track Oaks.
The post Alittleloveandluck a Dual-Surface Threat in Florida Oaks appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
