Tonalist's Shape to Cut Back in Charles Town Oaks

Tonalist's Shape will head to an upcoming Oaks race, but it won't be in Kentucky. Instead she will cut back to seven furlongs and contest the $200,000 Charles Town Oaks (G3) Aug. 28 at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.

The daughter of Tonalist  is one of 10 main entries in Friday's event for 3-year-old fillies, which also drew an also-eligible. She will share the highweight of 123 pounds with Aug. 1 Monmouth Oaks (G3) winner Hopeful Growth and meet grade 1 winner Wicked Whisper, who will carry 118 pounds.

Slam Dunk Racing, Doug Branham, and Legacy Ranch's Tonalist's Shape won her first five starts, all at a mile or less, including the Davona Dale (G2) and Forward Gal (G3) stakes at Gulfstream Park this year. She was seventh in the 1 1/16-mile Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) after a wide trip, then won at that distance May 15 in the Hollywood Wildcat Stakes. She stretched out to 1 1/8 miles—the distance of the Sept. 4 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1)—for the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) July 18 with the addition of blinkers, was checked in the first turn, and finished a distant fourth.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will take the blinkers off for the Charles Town Oaks, a race without Kentucky Oaks heavyweights Gamine and Swiss Skydiver, as well as grade 1 winner Speech.

"We thought the Charles Town Oaks would be a good spot for her. Obviously, the Kentucky Oaks is coming up as a really tough race," Joseph said, "and so we talked to the owners and we felt like this would be a good spot to get her back to her winning ways."

Christian Hiraldo will ride Tonalist's Shape from post 3.

St. Elias Stable's Hopeful Growth enters off a four-length victory in the Monmouth Oaks. The Tapiture  filly trained by Anthony Margotta Jr. will cut back from 1 1/16 miles for Friday's seven furlongs, a distance at which she won May 6 in an allowance optional claiming race at Tampa Bay Downs. She raced with blinkers her first two outings, then without them for the Tampa win and a fifth-place finish in the July 4 Delaware Oaks (G3), before Margotta put the blinkers back on.

"I took the blinkers off so she could learn a little bit. I just wanted her to get more of an education. And that's what happened. She really grew up and figured things out," Margotta said. "But after the Delaware Oaks, I wanted her to be a little more focused. And we knew she was going to move forward anyway off of that race, but they seemed to really do the trick in the Monmouth Oaks, and that will be the plan moving forward as well."

Hopeful Growth will break from post 10 under Arnaldo Bocachica.

The lightest raced in the field with four starts is Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Wicked Whisper. The Liam's Map  filly won on debut at Saratoga Race Course last summer before taking the Frizette Stakes (G1). She then finished fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Trainer Steve Asmussen brought her back this season in the seven-furlong Beaumont Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select (G3) July 10, but she faded to fourth after pressing the pace.

Wicked Whisper will be ridden by Antonio Lopez from post 6.

The field also includes stakes winners Boerne, Princess Cadey, and Lenzi's Lucky Lady, as well as Beaumont third Turtle Trax.

Entries: Charles Town Oaks (G3)

Hollywood Casino At Charles Town Races, Friday, August 28, 2020, Race 10

• Grade III
• 7f
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 9:43 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Turtle Trax (KY)	Gerald Almodovar	118	Ian R. Wilkes	10/1
2	2Boerne (TX)	J. D. Acosta	120	Juan Carlos Avila	5/1
3	3Tonalist's Shape (KY)	Christian Hiraldo	123	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	3/1
4	4Princess Cadey (KY)	Luis A. Batista	120	Claudio A. Gonzalez	12/1
5	5Ankle Monitor (KY)	Darius Thorpe	118	Claudio A. Gonzalez	20/1
6	6Wicked Whisper (KY)	Antonio Lopez	118	Steven M. Asmussen	7/2
7	7Fly On Angel (KY)	Fredy Peltroche	118	Claudio A. Gonzalez	12/1
8	8Lenzi's Lucky Lady (FL)	Wesley Ho	118	Robert B. Hess, Jr.	15/1
9	9Gifted Heart (MD)	Carlos J. Delgado	118	Phil Schoenthal	10/1
10	10Hopeful Growth (KY)	Arnaldo Bocachica	123	Anthony R. Margotta, Jr.	4/1
11	11Call On Mischief (KY)	Reshawn Latchman	118	Michael Stidham	12/1