Amy’s Challenge leaves field in dust

HOT SPRINGS — Amy’s Challenge, under jockey Alex Canchari, ran away from the field with an 81/4-length win Saturday in the $100,000 51/2 furlong Spring Fever for fillies and mares 4 years old and up in 1:03.10 before an estimated crowd of 17,000 at Oaklawn Park.

Mac Robertson, trainer of Amy’s Challenge, said he got exactly what he hoped for.

“The reason we ran her back here was to have her win again,” Robertson said. “Obviously winning is good for horses like her.”

Shanghai Tariff, ridden by Fernando De La Cruz, had a nose in front of Amy’s Challenge, the 4-5 favorite, shortly out of the gate and led by a head over the winner through the first quarter-mile in 22.20. Amy’s Challenge led Shanghai Tariff by 3 lengths at the head of the stretch and pulled away with ease through the wire.

Shanghai Tariff, the 3-1 third choice, finished second, half a length in front of fast-charging Alex’s Bourbon, who at 20-1 put a neck in front of fourth-place Treble 5 yards before the wire.

“I couldn’t have asked her for more,” De La Cruz said. “The other horse was just cruising easy. We have no excuse.

She was comfortable, but she was just second best. The other horse was the one to beat, and nobody was going to beat her.”

“She was just on cruise control,” Canchari said. “She is so amazing, that horse.”

Vertical Oak, who went off at 5-2, finished last in the field of seven.

Amy’s Challenge, owned by Joseph Novogratz, began the Spring Fever off her fastest career win. On Jan. 26, in Oaklawn’s 6-furlong American Beauty Stakes, she won in a race-record 1:09.32.

Robertson has said since last season that he believed Amy’s Challenge would eventually find success in route races. Her 4-year-old success thus far has encouraged his belief. Though he said nothing has been decided, Robertson mentioned a longer sprint, the Grade I 7-furlong

Madison Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on April 6, and Oaklawn’s Grade I 1-and-1/16mile Apple Blossom Handicap on April 14.

“The way she ran today, and as fast as she ran, I’ll probably run her next time in either the Madison or the Apple Blossom,” Robertson said. “I know everyone tells me to never run her over three-quarters. Fortunately, I hardly ever listen to anybody.”

Last season at Oaklawn after she won the 6-furlong Dixie Belle Stakes for three-yearold fillies, Amy’s Challenge stretched out for her next two attempts in the Grade III 1-and-1/16th-mile Honeybee and Fantasy Stakes. In both, she sprinted from the gate to big leads. She pulled the fields through 6-furlong splits of 1:10.27 and 1:10.52, respectively, but gave way and faltered late to finish second in the Honeybee and third in the Fantasy.

“Obviously, winning is always good for a horse,” Robertson said. “She runs so hard, it was discouraging to watch her lose last year.”

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith rode Amy’s Challenge in the Fantasy over a fast, but sealed, wet track.

“I just couldn’t get her to turn off,” Smith said after the race. “When the track is sealed like that, it can really make a lot of noise, and she just kept running from it. I tried to slow her down, and it made it worse.”

Sired by Artie Schiller and with a maternal grandsire Jump Start, Amy’s Challenge’s ancestry suggests a propensity for routes. Robertson said he believes she is relaxing more as a 4-year-old, a trait he hopes will help her settle into a pace more conducive to success, particularly in longer races.

“I was happy,” he said. “She was rating a little bit there. She was second for a while and then went by and won. I’m glad she did that. It was good for her heart.”

“I think she was a hundred percent relaxed today,” Canchari said. “I’m really excited about the future with her. I think she’s getting better with age.”