By Joe Bianca
To understand how chaotic Saturday's renewal of the GIII Bourbonette Oaks S. appears, one must look no further than the race's morning line favorite. Rags Racing Stable's Marquee Miss (Cowboy Cal), listed at 3-1, is coming off an effort in the GIII Honeybee S. in which she was eased, albeit after chasing a fast pace in the slop.
The Ingrid Mason trainee returns to a synthetic track for the first time since her strong debut victory in the seven-furlong Arlington-Washington Lassie S. last August. She also is the only multiple stakes winner in the 12-horse field–with two additional also-eligibles signed on–having captured the Dixie Belle S. and Martha Washington S. this winter at Oaklawn in addition to her first-out score. Despite her solid resume, there are no shortage of potential upsetters shipping in from all over the country in search of their first graded success.
Wonderment (Cosmonaut) is a Ken McPeek charge owned by Magdalena Racing and Chris Sterbenz who has raced exclusively against New York-bred company in her three-race career. She most recently was third behind undefeated Clipthecouponannie (Uncle Mo) in the Franklin Square S. over the Aqueduct inner track after winning her first two starts in a 10-day span last July at Belmont.
“She had a decent third in New York, but we want to stretch her out once and see how she handles that,” McPeek said. “I think she'll relish the stretch-out.”
McPeek also sends out Dorodansa (Bellamy Road), owned by Iron Oaks Farm, for her initial synthetic try. The chestnut filly was third behind Marquee Miss in the Martha Washington before finishing a distant fourth in the Honeybee last out.
“I think she'll like the Polytrack a lot more than she liked the dirt,” McPeek said. “She's a good, solid filly and I think she's better than her last race.”
Ben Colebrook will be represented by Woods Edge Farm owned American Doll (Tiznow), winner of three straight over this track and trip, including a game allowance victory last out when re-rallying to get her head down first in the final strides.
“She's been an interesting filly,” Colebrook said. “We bought her from the WinStar consignment at the November sale, and she's won three of her four races for us since then. She's done nothing wrong right through her conditions.”
Chadds Ford Stable's Lookout Sister (Giant's Causeway) is an interesting Florida shipper. Winner of the restricted Small Wonder S. at Delaware, the Graham Motion trainee most recently finished last of 10 in October's GI Alcibiades S. with a rough trip.
Claiborne Farm and trainer Al Stall, Jr. will be represented by Lope (Arch), who makes her synthetic debut after finishing a fast-closing second behind a wire-to-wire winner at just under 11-1 in the Joseph E. Spanky Broussard S. Feb. 5 at Fair Grounds.
Equivine Farm's Artesian (Artie Schiller) comes up from Payson Park for her first stakes foray. The gray filly won both of her races as a 2-year-old and was last seen earning a hard-fought victory in a Keeneland off-the-turf allowance Oct. 24.
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