Diodoro eyes Oaklawn starts for G2-winning filly
Robertino Diodoro came to Hot Springs last year with a Kentucky Derby prospect. Oaklawn’s 2020 training champion is back with a Kentucky Oaks hopeful.
On her third try at stakes company, Dream Lith scored a Grade 2 victory in the $400,000 Golden Rod Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs, earning 10 points for the May 6 Louisville classic for 3-yearold fillies. A daughter of Oaklawn maiden and Grade 2 winner Medaglia d’Oro, Dream Lith turned heads early with a debut victory at 36-1 Aug. 8 at Saratoga before fifth-place finishes in two Grade 1 races, the Spinaway at Saratoga and the Alcibiades at Keeneland.
“We’ve always liked this filly. Right from Day One, we thought she was a filly that wanted to go two turns,” Diodoro told Horse Racing Nation. The addition of blinkers and better racing luck helped Dream Lith move up in the Golden Rod, the trainer said.
About to turn 3, Dream Lith will be pointed to two Oaklawn preps, said Diodoro, who won two races on opening weekend at the track. The $200,000 Martha Washington is Jan. 29 at one mile and the Grade 3 $300,000 Honeybee follows March 26 at 1 1/16 miles. Oaklawn’s premier 3-year-old filly race is the Grade 3 $600,000 Fantasy April 2 at the Honeybee distance. Will’s Secret, owned by Marshall horseman Willis Horton and trained hy Dallas Stewart, swept the preps this year before Pauline’s Pearl won the Fantasy for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Past Fantasy winners include champions Blushing K.D., Rachel Alexandra and Swiss Skydiver.
Mariah’s Princess, a Ghostzapper filly trained by Phil Bauer, won Saturday’s inaugural $150,000 Mistletoe at Oaklawn for 2-year-old fillies at a mile and one-sixteenth.
In other news, Diodoro said Grade 2 winner Keepmeinmind may return late in the Oaklawn meeting. A Grade 2 winner at Churchill Downs late in his 2-year-old season, the Laoban colt had his 3-year-old debut delayed by a winter storm in February. Sixth in Oaklawn’s Grade 2 Rebel March 13, the late-running Keepmeinmind ran seventh in the Kentucky
Derby and fourth in the Preakness, his best finish this year a second in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga.
Poinsettia preview: Oaklawn fans get a chance Saturday to see the reigning Arkansas Derby winner in action.
Super Stock, a 12-1 Grade 1 stunner in April, is the early 9-5 favorite in the Grade 3 $150,000 Poinsettia at a mile and one-sixteenth. Luis Contreras rides for Asmussen, whose father, Keith, is co-owner of the Dialed In colt, while Ricardo Santana Jr., Super Stock’s Derby rider, takes 3-1 Defeater for Tom Amoss. Flash of Mischief, a last-out Delta Downs stakes winner for Karl Broberg, is the 5-2 second pick under Ramon Vazquez.
Asmussen’s fourth Arkansas Derby winner, Super Stock stalked his way to a 2 1/2-length triumph over Smarty Jones winner Caddo River with odds-on favorite and last-out Rebel winner Concert Tour third. That punched Super Stock’s ticket to the Kentucky Derby, where he ran 16th. Fourth in his next two races, the colt continued running in Derbys, winning at Ellis Park and last out at New Mexico’s Zia Park and placing third at Remington Park. A stakes winner at 2, Super Stock has earned more than $1.1 million from 14 starts.
Last Samurai (fifth) is the only other Arkansas Derby starter in the Poinsettia. The seven-horse field includes Preakness starter Ram, an Oaklawn maiden winner for Hall of Famer Wayne Lukas. Carded as race 9, the inaugural Poinsettia is set for 4:13 p.m.
Ones to watch: Friday’s $102,000 feature race includes Nashville, a stakes winner for Asmussen who in November 2020 set the six-furlong track record at Keeneland, and Mr. Jagermeister, a 2019 Oaklawn winner and of multiple stakes for trainer Valorie Lund. Also in the field are stakes winners Hollis, Home Base and Firecrow, the latter winning at Oaklawn before scoring in a Pimlico turf stake for Ron Moquett. … Abrogate, the Asmussen-trained winner of April’s Purple Martin for Arkansas owners Alex and JoAnn Lieblong, goes in race 6 Friday, a $102,000 allowance sprint for 3-year-old fillies. The opening race (12:30 p.m.) marks the return of 2017 King Cotton winner Storm Advisory, a 9-year-old entered for $20,000 claiming by Diodoro.