Seven Oaklawn-raced fillies on Friday card at Pimlico
Seven Oaklawn-raced fillies are entered among three graded stakes today at Pimlico.
Beguine and Interstatedaydream are entered in the Grade 2 $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan at nine furlongs, Happy Soul, Verylittlecents, Lady Scarlet and Gimmick are set for the Grade 3 $150,000 Miss Preakness at six furlongs, and Lil Kings Princess is entered in the Grade 3 $150,000 Allaire DuPont Distaff at nine furlongs.
Beguine, a Gun Runner filly under Francisco Arrieta, broke her maiden in her two-turn debut on March 5 before finishing second by a neck to Yuugiri in the Grade 3 $600,000 Fantasy at 1 1/16 miles on April 2. She was entered into the Kentucky Oaks but failed to draw in as an also-eligible. The Daniel Peitz-trained filly is set to break from post 5 at 12-1 odds.
Interstatedaydream won her 3-year-old debut at Oaklawn in a March 13 allowance race before finishing third in the Grade 1 $600,000 Central Bank Ashland at Keeneland on April 8.
The Classic Empire filly is set to break from post 9 under jockey Florent Geroux at 6-1 odds.
Happy Soul, the 5-2 second choice in the Miss Preakness, beat out Verylittlecents by three lengths in the $150,000 Dixie Belle at six furlongs on Feb. 19 at Oaklawn. Jockey John Velazquez keeps the mount for the Runhappy filly, who was sixth in the April 8 Central Bank Ashland in her last start, while Jon Court keeps the mount on the Goldencents filly, whose finished fourth in the Purple Martin in her last start.
Lady Scarlet won a Feb. 26 allowance before winning the $100,000 Cicada at Aqueduct on March 19, but she finished fourth in her only career graded start, the Grade 3 $400,000 Beaumont at Keeneland on April 10. The Union Rags filly gets her fourth jockey of the year with Irad Ortiz Jr.
Gimmick’s only win as a 3-year-old came in an April 7 allowance race at Oaklawn under Ramon Vazquez. Tyler Gaffalione has the mount for the Into Mischief filly trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen.
Lil Kings Princess, a 4-yearold Street Boss filly, was a twotime allowance winner at Oaklawn this season. Irad Ortiz Jr. takes the mount for John Ortiz.
TOHILL HITS MAJOR MARK
Jockey Ken Tohill became the 80th jockey in North American history to accumulate 4,000 career victories after Rainbow Surebet won Sunday’s fourth race at Prairie Meadows, according to Equibase, horse racing’s official data gathering organization.
Tohill, who rode extensively at the last two Oaklawn meetings, returned to Oaklawn in 2021 after racing in New Mexico was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The jockey rode 22 winners in 2014 at Oaklawn, adding nine in 2021 and three in the most recent meet before moving his tack to Fonner Park in Nebraska in early March.
Alex Canchari and Cindy Murphy, both of whom have strong ties to the Spa City’s race track, are also closing in on career milestones.
Canchari rode three winners Monday at Prairie Meadows, including 4-year-old Ghost Strategy for trainer Lynn Cleborad, to move to 996 career wins. He has accumulated 208 career victories at Oaklawn, including 10 at the most recent meet. He won both the Temperence Hill and the Gazebo in the 2021 season at Oaklawn, and he was the track’s leading apprentice jockey in 2013.
Murphy, who is also based at Prairie Meadows, has tallied 1,991 wins according to Equibase. With 183 wins, she is the winningest female jockey in Oaklawn history.
Cleborad has 132 wins at Oaklawn, giving her the title for the winningest female trainer at the track. She had six winners in Oaklawn’s 2021-2022 meet.