Big Field Set for Raven Run

A wide-open field of 13 sophomore filly sprinters will line up for Saturday's GII Lexus Raven Run S. at Keeneland.

'TDN Rising Star' Souper Sensational (Curlin) enters in good form in her last three starts since receiving a freshening. A powerful winner of Belmont's GIII Victory Ride S. July 10, the Live Oak colorbearer followed with a second-place finish behind likely GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint second choice Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot) in the GI Longines Test S. Aug. 7 and repeated that same position behind the streaking Cilla (California Chrome) after leading in the stretch as the 4-5 favorite in the GII Prioress S. back at the Spa Sept. 4.

Juddmonte homebred Obligatory (Curlin), drawn widest of all for Bill Mott here, is favored at 3-1 on the morning line. Minus a disappointing fifth after a slow start in the Test, the GII Eight Belles S. upsetter has strong second-place finishes going longer behind Search Results (Flatter) in the one-mile GI Acorn S. June 5 and Clairiere (Curlin) in the 1 1/16-mile GI Cotillion S. last time Sept. 25.

Mott will also saddle Godolphin homebred Caramel Swirl (Union Rags), a big-figure Saratoga allowance winner July 24 in her comebacker following a dull seventh in the Eight Belles. She was a disappointing fourth as the heavy favorite in the two-turn GIII Charles Town Oaks last time Aug. 27.

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Caramel Swirl Tabbed Morning-Line Favorite For Charles Town Oaks

With the second-largest purse of the year offered by Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia's only graded stakes race for fillies up for grabs, a wide-ranging, full field of 10 3-year-old fillies will battle for the top prize on Friday night in the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks (G3) at seven furlongs.

The Oaks, now in its 13th year, is the main undercard attraction on a card featuring the $800,000 Charles Town Classic (G2) and total purses topping $2 million. Post time for the first race is 5:00 P.M.

Being a two-turn race at a sprint distance, the Oaks has attracted trainers sending sprinters they hope will hold their speed against routers that figure to have a stamina edge.

One of those who believes he's found what his filly wants to do is Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott who sends out Caramel Swirl for Godolphin off a sharp three-length score in an allowance July 24 at Saratoga. The Union Rags filly raced forwardly and sailed home under a hand ride by jockey Junior Alvarado. The race was an impressive rebound after a dull seventh-place finish in the Eight Belles (G3) on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill Downs.

“She's a nice filly,” Mott said, “Always well thought of. We tried stretching her up to a mile, two turns, and it didn't work, so we shortened her back up and it worked well. Six and seven furlongs are probably good distances for her.”

Alvarado has the return call on Caramel Swirl who sits as the 5-2 morning line favorite for the Charles Town Oaks.

Brad Cox, the second-leading trainer in the country, sends out Inject for owner Louis Wright. The daughter of Frosted out of the Grade 1 winning mare Appealing Zophie, is a half-sister to 2017 Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit, and Cox is looking to build Inject's credentials for a future career as a broodmare.

“Our filly doesn't have any experience around a racetrack as tight as Charles Town,” Cox said, “But it's a very nice purse, a graded race, and will add to this filly's value if she can finish 1-2-3. We hope she'll be a big-time broodmare. She's got the pedigree.”

Inject finished third last out in the Victory Ride (G3) at Belmont Park and has the services of Florent Geroux on Friday evening.

The Oaks will feature no shortage of horses who tried the major filly races in the spring: Stonestreet Stables' Pauline's Pearl won the Fantasy (G3) at Oaklawn Park before finishing eighth behind the powerful Malathaat in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) for leading trainer Steve Asmussen while John C. Minchello's Competitive Speed who tried her hand in the Kentucky Oaks after back-to-back third place efforts in graded stakes company at Gulfstream Park. BB Horses' Miss Leslie finished fifth in the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) at Pimlico for leading Maryland trainer Claudio Gonzalez. Moon Swag, trained by Brendan Walsh, finished fourth in the Ashland (G1) behind the aforementioned Malathaat and most recently came up only a neck short of her first graded stakes triumph in the Indiana Oaks (G3).

Lucky 7 Stables' Street Lute, trained by John Robb, has seven stakes wins sprinting with earnings of $481,720, second only to Pauline's Pearl. The Street Magician filly has never gone around two turns but has been dominant in stakes at Laurel Park, her home track.

“It's a tough race, but what I like about is there's only one or two horses with any speed at all,” Robb said. “You can have all the class you want; give me speed all the time. I like the way it's shaping up for that kind of money.”

Trainer Ian Wilkes enters Fabricate out of a productive allowance race at Ellis Park while trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. ships Allworthy down from Saratoga, where she's been training after a fourth-place finish in the Monmouth Oaks (G3).

The wildcard in the field could be the undefeated R Adios Jersey for trainer Georgina Baxter who comes into the Charles Town Oaks a perfect 4-for-4 in her career after being made a short priced favorite in each of her starts. Friday will mark the first start outside of Florida for the daughter of Adios Charlie who most recently cruised to a front running score in the restricted Stonehedge Farm South Sophomore Fillies Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

Lynch Racing LLC's Alayla was also entered in the Charles Town Oaks but sits as the first horse on the also eligible list and would need a defection from the body of the race to run.

The $400,000 Charles Town Oaks is part of Charles Town's Pick 6 sequence starting in Race 8 which will see its jackpot carryover forced out as well as Guaranteed $100,000 Pick 5 and Pick 4 pools which kick off in Race 9 and Race 10 respectively.

Post time for the Charles Town Oaks is set for 9:45 P.M. EST.

$400,000 CHARLES TOWN OAKS (G3)

August 27, 2021

Race 11 – Post time 9:45 PM EST

1. Caramel Swirl, Junior Alvarado, 118, William I. Mott

2. Street Lute, Xavier Perez, 120, John J. Robb

3. Pauline's Pearl, Brian J. Hernandez, Jr., 123, Steven M. Asmussen

4. Moon Swag, Deshawn L. Parker, 118, Brendan P. Walsh

5. Fabricate, Open, 118, Ian R. Wilkes

6. Inject, Florent Geroux, 120, Brad H. Cox

7. Competitive Speed, Leonel Reyes, 120, Javier E. Gonzalez

8. R Adios Jersey, Paco Lopez, 120, Georgina Baxter

9. Miss Leslie, J.D. Acosta, 120, Claudio A. Gonzalez

10. Allworthy, Tyler Gaffalione, 118, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.

Also Eligible

11. Alayla, Charlie Marquez, 118, Cathal A. Lynch

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Sunday Pick 6 At Saratoga Bolstered By Saturday Carryover

Sunday's Pick 6 will be bolstered by a $257,811 carryover as the multi-race wager went unsolved on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The $1 Pick 6 returned $1,014 to bettors who selected 5-of-6 winners correctly.

Saturday's sequence kicked off in Race 6 with Midnight Worker [No. 1, $22.20] graduating at first asking under Luis Saez for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher in a six-furlong maiden event for 2-year-olds.

Peter Brant's Sifting Sands [No. 3, $58] posted the biggest price of the sequence in Race 7, capturing a turf allowance under Manny Franco for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. Brant and Brown combined again in Race 8 as Rastafara [No. 3, $7.10] secured the win in a one-mile inner-turf tilt under Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Caramel Swirl [No. 6, $4.30] won as the post-time favorite in Race 9, capturing the seven-furlong allowance with a perfect trip from Junior Alvarado for Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott.

Ortiz, Jr. notched his second win of the sequence, rallying outside rivals aboard Caravel [No. 1, $4] to win the Grade 3, $200,000 Caress in Race 10 in impressive fashion for trainer, breeder, and co-owner Elizabeth Merryman.

In the Race 11 finale, Mike's Girl [No. 10, $19] staved off Cara's Dreamer [No. 1], who was also uncovered in the sequence, clinching the carryover in the 1 1/16-mile inner-turf event.

Sunday's Pick 6 kicks off in Race 5 at 3:21 p.m. Eastern and includes the $200,000 Grade 3 Shuvee for older fillies and mares in Race 9. First post on the 10-race card is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

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Friday’s Insights: Dreaming of Julia Filly Gets Going at Belmont

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

4th-BEL, $63K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, post time: 2:30 p.m. ET
The product of two of Stonestreet Farm’s best, top and bottom, MALATHAAT (Curlin) gets her career underway for Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Stable and trainer Todd Pletcher. The Mar. 7 foal, a $1.05 million acquisition at Keeneland September last fall, is the first to race out of Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), one of two ‘TDN Rising Stars’ produced by MGISW Dream Rush (Wild Rush), who was acquired by Stonestreet for $3.3 million at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton November sale. Pletcher conditioned Dreaming of Julia to a narrow victory in the 2012 GI Frizette S. en route to a runner-up effort to Beholder (Henny Hughes) in that year’s GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Malathaat completed her worktab with a bullet half-mile in :49 1/5 (1/10) over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Oct. 3.

Sheikh Hamdan’s brother Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin is represented by Caramel Swirl (Union Rags), who has trained with purpose for Bill Mott. The filly’s unraced dam Caramel Snap (Smart Strike) is a daughter of GSW Fast Cookie (Deputy Minister), whose son MGISW Frosted (Tapit) is off the a promising start with his first crop of runners this season. Fast Cookie, a half-sister to champion Midshipman (Unbridled’s Song), is also responsible for GSW Indulgent (Bernardini). Caramel Swirl breezed four furlongs in :48 2/5 (3/47) over the Oklahoma track Oct. 2. TJCIS PPs

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