Envoutante Set for Graded Breakthrough in Remington Oaks

Envoutante (Uncle Mo) may not have been up to the likes Speech (Mr Speaker) and stablemate Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in her two most recent tries, but she looks poised to be the headline act in a field of eight for Sunday’s GIII Remington Park Oaks in Oklahoma City.

The $250,000 Keeneland September yearling, raced in partnership by Walking L Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm, was an easy allowance winner at Churchill in May and was hardly disgraced when third behind Speech in the GI Ashland S. at Keeneland July 11. Connections kept the faith and gave their charge another top-level attempt in the GI Alabama S. at Saratoga Aug. 15 and she split the field of seven while finishing nearly 11 lengths adrift of Swiss Skydiver.

Ken McPeek will also send out the progressive Curls and Bows (Curlin) who broke her maiden for a $50,000 tag at Keeneland–a claim for her was subsequently voided–and exits an Ellis allowance score Aug. 21 in which she was bumped and hit the rail at the furlong grounds, but managed to get home a neck best. Curlin supplied last year’s Oaks winner Lady Apple.

Paige Anne (Take Charge Indy) raids from California for trainer Simon Callaghan. Fourth to Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo) in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. at Santa Anita Mar. 8, the bay was third in the May 31 California Oaks on the Golden Gate Tapeta and was a distant third to Harvest Moon (Uncle Mo) when last seen in Del Mar’s GIII Torrey Pines S. Aug. 22.

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Envoutante Tops Field Of Eight In Sunday’s Remington Park Oaks

Trainer Kenny McPeek has three of the eight horses entered for the Grade 3, $100,000 Remington Park Oaks on Sunday, including the heavy 7-5 morning-line favorite Envoutante.

The Remington Park Oaks tops the undercard on Oklahoma Derby Day this Sunday. The oaks is slated as race four with an approximate post time of 4:24pm.

McPeek is looking for his second victory in this race, having won the 2013 edition with Montana Native. His other two entrants also certainly have a shot Sunday with Jeweled Princess at 4-1 and Curls and Bows at 6-1. That gives him three of the top four favorites in this field.

The top trainer in the country by money earned this year with more than $14 million banked, Steve Asmussen, has won this race four times, including the last two. Asmussen, a Hall of Famer nationally and in Oklahoma, won last year with Lady Apple and in 2018 with She's a Julie. He has made two more trips to the winner's circle with More Than Promised in 2005 and Carlitta in 1999. Asmussen entered Seattle Slang this year and she was made 8-1 in the morning line.

Here's a look from the rail out on the eight fillies going to the gate in the 31st Remington Park Oaks at 1-1/16 miles:

1 – Trixie Racer, 10-1

Owner: Speed Racing 2018 of Cibolo, Texas

Trainer: Danny Pish

Jockey: Danny Sorenson

This Kentucky-bred filly by Orb, out of the Giant's Causeway mare Venetian Causeway, will carry the hometown flag as all three of her wins have come at Remington Park. She has won three-of-four tries in Oklahoma City, including a win in the $50,000 E.L. Gaylord Memorial Stakes, sprinting 6-1/2 furlongs on Sept. 29, 2019. She broke her maiden the race before that at Remington and returned to her favorite track with a win in her 2020 fall debut against conditioned allowance fillies and mares just eight days before the oaks, on Saturday, Sept. 19. Her only loss over this main track came in the $100,000 Trapeze last year, finishing fourth. She has three wins in eight starts for earnings of $101,283. Career mark of 8 starts-3 wins-2 seconds-0 thirds.

2 – Seattle Slang, 8-1

Owner: Phoenix Thoroughbred III LTD of Lexington, Ky.

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Jockey: Stewart Elliott

This Kentucky-bred filly by Tapit, out of the Quiet American mare Seattle Smooth, is making her first career stakes start after winning a maiden race at Fair Grounds in New Orleans on March 14. She also won her last race, an allowance for non-winners of two races lifetime at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. on July 25. She hasn't raced since then, but has had a series of works over Remington Park's main surface, including a bullet move at five furlongs on Sept. 14. She was the fastest at that distance of 15 horses that worked that morning. Earnings of $77,050. Career mark of 7-2-0-2.

3 – Curls and Bows, 6-1

Owner: Lucky Seven Stable (Mike Mackin) of Louisville, Ky.

Trainer: Kenneth McPeek

Jockey: Ramon Vazquez

This Kentucky-bred daughter of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, out of the Peteski mare Trickski, has only won twice in her career, but the victories have come in her last two starts in Kentucky. She broke her maiden at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., two races back on July 12, sprinting six furlongs. McPeek stretched her out to a mile in her last race at Ellis Park in a first-level allowance race on Aug. 21 and she just got up at the wire to win. Unraced since, she has taken to the track at Churchill Downs in Louisville to prep for this, her first stakes try. Career mark of 8-2-0-0 for $56,603 in earnings.

4 – Envoutante, 7-5

Owner: Walking L Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm

Trainer: Kenneth McPeek

Jockey: David Cabrera

Kentucky-bred daughter of Uncle Mo has top money earnings in the field with $155,748. This filly, out of the Bluegrass Cat mare Enchante, has won two-of-seven starts lifetime. She won against maidens at the oaks distance at Gulfstream Park, romping by an open six lengths in wire-to-wire fashion. She then beat first-level allowance fillies easily at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., coming home by 2-1/4 lengths. Her connections thought enough of her following that race to try her against two of the top fillies in training, Swiss Skydiver and Speech, in the Grade 1, $400,000 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland in July, and the Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga in upstate New York in August. She finished a respectable third and fourth, respectively, in those Grade 1 races. Career mark of 7-2-1-2.

5 – Darlene Strong, 20-1

Owner: Probable Cause Racing Stable of Luther, Okla.

Trainer: Travis Murphy

Jockey: Lindey Wade

Another filly that gets into this race on a two-win streak. She won a six-furlong sprint at Prairie Meadows in Iowa on Aug. 13 against an allowance field of non-winners of two lifetime and then an allowance-optional claiming race for $30,000 fillies last time out in Iowa, stretching out to a mile. She won both races by daylight – 4-3/4 lengths and 4-1/2 lengths. She has run first or second in seven of her nine starts lifetime and will be making her stakes debut in this spot. Career mark of 9-3-4-1 with earnings of $70,393.

6 – Paige Anne, 9-2

Owner: Elie and Lori Feghali, and Kimberly and Mark Mathiesen

Trainer: Simon Callaghan

Jockey: Sophie Doyle

A Kentucky-bred filly by Take Charge Indy, out of the Milwaukee Brew mare Forbidden Brew, is third choice on the morning line at 9-2 odds and has hit the board in seven of nine tries. She is stakes-experienced, running in that kind of company in her last three starts while earning a paycheck in all three attempts. She finished fourth in the Grade 3, $100,000 Saint Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., at 1-1/16th miles on March 8, third in the $75,000 Cal Oaks in Northern California at Golden Gate on May 31, and third in the Grade 3, $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar near San Diego on Aug. 22. Her career mark is 9-2-1-4 for $94,540 in her bankroll.

7 – Hotasapistol, 10-1

Owner: Gary and Brenda Bergsrud of Rolla, N.D.

Trainer: Clinton Stuart

Jockey: Lane Luzzi

Stuart, a mainstay at Remington Park throughout the track's history, enters this filly by Flat Out from the Dayjur mare Alacazar while seeking his second victory in the Remington Park Oaks. He saddled standout War Thief to win the 1995 oaks, when it was contested at 1-1/16 miles over the turf. Hotasapistol has made eight starts in her career, three as a juvenile and five this summer, all in Minnesota-bred company at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. The winner of the $100,000 Minnesota Oaks on Aug. 19, Hotasapistol put in her first local work for the Remington Park Oaks on Monday, Sept. 21. She went a half-mile in :49.72, handily, on a fast track. Her career mark is 8-3-1-1 for $123,985 in earnings.

8 – Jeweled Princess, 4-1

Owner: Walking L Thoroughbreds of The Woodlands, Texas

Trainer: Kenneth McPeek

Jockey: Orlando Mojica

Jeweled Princess rides into the Remington Park Oaks on a three-race win streak, at three different tracks. Her first win in the streak came at Keeneland on a sloppy track, going 1-1/16th miles against maiden, $50,000 claimers, winning by 1-1/2 lengths on July 9. She followed that with a one-length victory at Ellis Park in the mud against allowance-optional $25,000 claimers on July 31, and then took a little time off before winning on Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs against conditional allowance-optional claiming $62,500 horses. She has not won or raced in stakes-company yet. Her career mark is 10-2-3-2 for $112,888 in earnings.

Remington Park racing continues this week through Sunday, with a first post Thursday-Saturday of 7:07pm. On Sunday afternoon, a special 11-race Oklahoma Derby card is presented with the first event at 3pm. All times are Central.

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Swiss Skydiver to Take on Boys in the Blue Grass

The filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) will be out to make history Saturday when she takes on males in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland. No filly has ever won the prestigious race.

Trainer Kenny McPeek had nominated Swiss Skydiver for both the Blue Grass and the GI Ashland S. for fillies. He waited until Wednesday morning, shortly before the draw, to make his decision. He said a major factor was that he has another filly for the Ashland in Envoutante (Uncle Mo).

“In any other year, this would have been an easier decision, but I have Envoutante running in the Ashland and I think she has a big chance there,” he said. “I hate running entries where you know you are going to beat yourself with one or the other. [Owner] Peter Callahan is as game as Dick Tracy and I am too. I do think it will be fun. If she can jump through this hoop great.  If she can’t we will  backtrack and go to the [GI] Alabama or just wait for the [GI] Kentucky Oaks.”

Envoutante, who is owned by Walking L Thoroughbreds, LLC and Three Chimneys Farm, won an allowance race at Churchill in her last start.

Another factor McPeek considered was the weights.

“I like the fact she is getting a pretty good weight break,” he said. “She’ll carry 118 and gets six pounds off her last race. Some of the colts will pick up weight off their last races. How much difference does that make, it’s hard to say? She’s a big filly. She weighs 1,100 pounds. The weights are an edge and that’s why it is there.”

McPeek also found a year in which the Blue Grass did not come up with a stellar field. Repositioned to the summer because Keeneland had to cancel its spring meet due to the coronavirus, the Blue Grass is sandwiched among a number of stakes for 3-year-olds, all of them vying for the top talent

“A lot of the colts in this race are big question marks,” McPeek said. “It’s questionable if they want to go that far or whether they want to race at that level. The fillies that are running in the Ashland are good filles. Envoutante is not a stakes winner, but she’s a good filly in her own right. None of the colts in the Blue Grass have won a graded race this year. [Swiss Skydiver] has proven herself in her last three starts. It would be pretty cool to win the Blue Grass with a filly.”

The Blue Grass purse is $600,000. The Ashland purse is $400,000.

A Blue Grass victory would give Swiss Skydiver enough points to make it into the field for the GI Kentucky Derby. She is nominated to the Triple Crown. When asked if a Blue Grass win would mean a Derby start for Swiss Skydiver, McPeek replied:    “It might. I know if she can’t win this then she’s not a Derby horse. A loss would answer that question.”

Only one other filly has started in the Blue Grass. Coming off a win in the Ashland, Harriet Sue ran fifth in the 1944 Blue Grass.

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Kentucky Oaks Points Leader Swiss Skydiver A Definite Maybe For Blue Grass

Peter Callahan's multiple graded stakes winner Swiss Skydiver, the runaway leader atop the Road to the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 310 points, might challenge the boys in Saturday's 94th running of the $600,000 Toyota Blue Grass (G2) on the fourth day of Keeneland's unprecedented five-day Summer Meet in Lexington, Ky.

Nominated to the Triple Crown, Swiss Skydiver, a daughter of Daredevil, also is nominated to Keeneland's Central Bank Ashland (G1) to be run the same day. She is trained by Kenny McPeek, who also conditions another Central Bank Ashland nominee, Envoutante, a daughter of Uncle Mo owned by Walking L Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm. Envoutante won an allowance race at Churchill Downs in her most recent race on May 29.

Entries for the Toyota Blue Grass and Central Bank Ashland both will be taken Wednesday.

“I'm not going to decide (the next race for Swiss Skydiver) until the morning of entries,” McPeek said late Saturday morning after Envoutante and Swiss Skydiver each worked at Churchill Downs.

“There's several factors (in making the decision),” he added. “I need to make sure the other filly (Envoutante) is good to go in the Ashland. Like I said, I'm inclined to keep them apart. We'll see. I want to check field size, things like that.”

No filly has won the Toyota Blue Grass, and only one filly has run in the race since it debuted at Keeneland during the track's inaugural Spring Meet in April 1937. She is Hyman Friedberg's homebred Harriet Sue, who in 1944 won the Ashland and next was fifth to Skytracer in the Blue Grass. That year, Keeneland's Spring Meet was held at Churchill Downs.

In 1948, future Hall of Famer Bewitch was scratched from the Blue Grass.

Saturday's 83rd running of Central Bank Ashland figures to attract a small but select field regardless of where Swiss Skydiver runs.

Three Grade 2 winners are expected to be entered Wednesday: Juddmonte Farms' Bonny South, winner of the Fair Grounds Oaks; Slam Dunk Racing, Doug Branham and Legacy Ranch's Tonalist's Shape, winner of the Davona Dale, and Ciaglia Racing, Highland Yard, River Oak Farm and Dominic Savides' Venetian Harbor, winner of the Las Virgenes.

Saturday's Blue Grass, which marks the 25th running of the race sponsored by Toyota, could draw a field of 12, including Swiss Skydiver. Other notables expected to pass the entry box include Jackpot Farm's Basin, winner of last summer's Runhappy Hopeful (G1) and most recently runner-up in a division of the Arkansas Derby (G1); John Oxley's Enforceable, winner of the Lecomte (G3) and multiple graded stakes-placed, and Bruce Lunsford's sharp Churchill allowance winner Art Collector.

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