Coaching Club American Oaks

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - With one dominating win after another so far this season, it was time for a new challenge for the imposing 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna). Her trainer Kenny McPeek gave it to her on Saturday when he announced that Thorpedo Anna will make her next start in the $1.25 million Grade I Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 24. McPeek made the announcement during the Fox Saratoga Saturday broadcast. "We are headed to the Travers, and I'm going to give you a list...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Pressure? What pressure. There was none of that over at trainer Kenny McPeek's barn at the Oklahoma Annex Friday morning. Even though the stable star--the imposing, impressive and almost undefeated 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna)--is running on Saturday, no one on McPeek's staff was sweating bullets. Thorpedo Anna is the 1-2 morning-line favorite in the $500,000 GI Coaching Club American Oaks at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga Race Course. She has won five of six career starts and has won all three of her races...

Cody's Wish (Curlin) worked five furlongs in 1:00 (1/15) Saturday over the Oklahoma training track in preparation for the $1-million GI Whitney Aug. 5. The Godolphin homebred is currently on a six-race winning streak topped by a powerful 3 1/4-length score last out in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. June 10 at Belmont Park. "He was very good. He went five eighths and went well and appeared to be well within himself," Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. "We're uncertain about the nine furlongs (in the Whitney),...

For Nest (Curlin), the easy route to the Breeders' Cup includes a stop in the GI Alabama Aug 20. It's a prestigious race, has a $600,000 purse and Nest would be an odds-on favorite against many of the same horses she thrashed Saturday in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks. But what fun is that? Owners Mike Repole, Michael House and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trainer Todd Pletcher have already shown that they will think outside the box. They ran their filly in the GI Belmont S., where she finished...

In this continuing series, we examine the past winners of significant filly/mare races by the lasting influence they've had on the breed. Up today is the GI Coaching Club American Oaks, a significant 3-year old filly event on the Saratoga calendar. The CCA Oaks is one of the revered traditions in the sophomore filly ranks. Like so many other races that have a century's worth of history, it has changed both distances and venues multiple times. The race began at nine furlongs in 1917 and was shortened to that distance...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Though the GI Coaching Club American Oaks Saturday is short on depth, it is long on star power with Secret Oath (Arrogate) and D. Wayne Lukas taking on Nest (Curlin) and his long-ago former assistant Todd Pletcher. The rematch of the most accomplished 3-year-old fillies in the land puts two Hall of Fame trainers, very friendly rivals indeed, back together on the big stage of Saratoga Race Course. Seventy-nine days after Secret Oath beat favored Nest by two lengths in the GI Kentucky Oaks, the stars...

They could only scrape together a field of four for Saturday's GII Mother Goose S. at Belmont Park, run two weeks after they had a field of four in the GI Acorn S. Saturday's third race at Belmont fared no better. Only four went in the Wild Applause S., and three of them were trained by Chad Brown. And it isn't just a NYRA problem. The number of stakes run across the country that have attracted five horses or fewer is alarming. Since May 7, GI Kentucky Derby Day, there...

GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and GI Kentucky Derby Rich Strike (Keen Ice), sixth in Saturday's Belmont, will now be pointed towards the Aug. 27 GI Runhappy Travers S., connections confirmed Sunday morning. "I haven't really talked to the ownership group about it too much, but both of our Travers winners went through the Jim Dandy," Mo Donegal's trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday. "So to me, if he has a prep between now and the Travers, that would make the most sense." The GII Jim Dandy will...

Bidding on behalf of Spendthrift Farm, Ned Toffey went to a session-topping $3.1 million to acquire Paris Lights (Curlin--Paris Bikini, by Bernardini) as the third-last horse through the ring as part of the supplemental catalog on the opening day of the Keeneland November Sale in Lexington. The 4-year-old filly, who was consigned to the sale by ELiTE, agent, went three-for-four as during her sophomore season, capping the campaign with a hard-fought head defeat of fellow WinStar Stablemates Racing colorbearer Crystal Ball (Malibu Moon) in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY-Even if she had not pulled off the biggest upset of the still-young Saratoga season Saturday afternoon, Maracuja (Honor Code) would have received a major dose of love from her owners Sunday morning. The gentle gray is, after all, Beach Haven Thoroughbreds's only horse. While her status in the stable didn't change, Maracuja's victory by a head over Malathaat (Curlin) in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks no doubt raised her stature in the 3-year-old filly division. She isn't likely to be the longest shot in the field...

Paris Lights (Curlin), an impressive winner of two straight at Churchill Downs, made her stakes debut a winning one with a ultra-game decision in Saturday's GI Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga. The 2-1 chance pressed runaway Bob Baffert-trained Santa Anita maiden winner Crystal Ball (Malibu Moon) from second through fractions of :24.43 and :47.82, and turned up the pressure as they hit the quarter pole. Paris Lights and Crystal Ball, both owned by WinStar Stablemates Racing, turned for home on even terms, and after a dramatic stretch duel, it...

While two-time GSW Tonalist's Shape (Tonalist) is favored at 9-5 on the morning line for Saturday's GI Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga, she'll have to fend off several well-bred and promising up-and-comers if she's to get the job done. Perhaps the most formidable challenger is WinStar Stablemates Racing's Paris Lights (Curlin). The Bill Mott trainee was third in a sloppy-track sprint at Gulfstream on debut Apr. 26, but took a big step forward to romp on the stretch-out at Churchill May 31 and then paired up 85 Beyer Speed...