Pauline's Pearl Earns Oaks Ticket With Fantasy Score
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Photo: Coady Photogaphy
Pauline's Pearl wins the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park
Trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. swept the April 3 stakes action at Oaklawn Park with 3-year-old fillies Pauline's Pearl and Abrogate , the respective winners of the $600,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) and $196,000 Purple Martin Stakes.
Stonestreet Stables' homebred Pauline's Pearl lived up to her 4-5 odds and secured herself a spot in the starting gate for the April 30 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) with her one-length victory in the Fantasy.
With Santana up, Pauline's Pearl raced wide early in fourth as Ava's Grace led the field through opening fractions of :23.11 and :46.86 for the first half-mile. The gray or roan Tapit filly moved within a head of the leader after three-quarters in 1:11.84 before shaking clear late to win the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:43.64 on the fast track.
"She's all class," Asmussen said. "Has a tremendous pedigree. She's gotten better every day. She's gotten faster with each race. She's getting extremely good at the perfect time."
"We had a good trip. Everything worked out," Santana said. "She broke to run, settled down pretty well, and I thank God for the victory today. I think she has a great future."
Pauline's Pearl earned 100 Road to the Kentucky Oaks points with her victory in the Fantasy and is now ranked fourth on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with a total of 120 points. She earned her first points when second in the March 6 Honeybee Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn.
"With who she is and the confidence that race (the Honeybee) gave us, I think Ricardo used more of her today, put her in a better position. He said how confident he was around there," Asmussen said. "He used a little of her away from there, just to not hand it to them. Said down the backside she was traveling extremely comfortably and obviously we're very pleased with the results."
Ava's Grace held for second and Coach closed late to get up for third. Take Charge Lorin , Sylvia Q , and West Side Girl completed the order of finish. Sun Path was scratched.
The second- through fourth-place finishers earned 40, 20, and 10 Oaks points, respectively.
Pauline's Pearl ($3.60) improved her record to 2-1-1 in five career starts and has earned $461,500. She joins Rachel Alexandra Stakes Presented by Fasig-Tipton (G2) winner Clairiere , another Stonestreet homebred and Asmussen trainee, as a Kentucky Oaks contender.
Bred in Kentucky, Pauline's Pearl was produced from the Asmussen-trained grade 1 winner Hot Dixie Chick , also the dam of multiple stakes winner Union Jackson . Hot Dixie Chick also has an unnamed 2-year-old Curlin colt and foaled a Constitution colt Feb. 21.
Video: Fantasy S. (G3)
Abrogate Turns Tables in Purple Martin
Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Abrogate, coming off a third-place finish behind 4-5 Purple Martin favorite Windmill in the Feb. 28 Dixie Belle Stakes at Oaklawn, turned the tables on her rival with a half-length victory in Saturday's six-furlong dash. Windmill had to settle for third after setting the pace, a half-length behind runner-up Joyful Cadence .
Abrogate (center) wins the Purple Martin Stakes at Oaklawn Park
"A lot of people don't know that we missed 11 days of training," Santana said, referring to when severe winter weather postponed racing and shut down training at Oaklawn. "We knew she was going to be a little flat in her last race. We took it easy with her that day. Today, she was on her toes and everything changed today."
Breaking from post 3 under Santana, Abrogate tracked Windmill in second through fractions of :21.63 and :45.12 for the first half-mile. She gained the advantage by a head at the top of the lane and dug in late to prevail over a rapidly closing Joyful Cadence in a final time of 1:10.54 on the fast track.
"She showed the quality she has under very good conditions," Asmussen said. "She's a very good filly and we see good things in her future."
Abrogate's stablemate Devilish Wit finished fourth and Southern Grayce was fifth to complete the order of finish.
Abrogate ($8), an Outwork daughter, improved her record to three wins from four starts and has earned $234,492.
The dark bay or brown filly was bred in Kentucky by Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm out of the Burning Roma mare Hot Coffee , who has since produced 2-year-old Thedevilyousay, an unraced Daredevil filly, and a yearling Good Samaritan colt. Hot Coffee was bred to Hard Spun for 2021.
Abrogate first sold as a weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where M B Stable purchased her for $75,000 from the Warrendale Sales consignment. She then was bought by the Lieblongs out of the Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency consignment to the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $270,000.