Revived Towhead Takes On 11 Rivals in Honeybee

Towhead  has had an interesting journey up to this point. If the daughter of Malibu Moon should win the Feb. 25 $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park, it will just be another chapter in what has already been a fascinating nine-start career.

The precocious chestnut, picked up for $100,000 as a yearling from part-owner Deuce Greathouse (Pura Vida Investments) at the 2021 Keeneland September Sale, made her first start last year in May at Churchill Downs in a five-furlong maiden special weight in the slop. After rearing skyward in the gate, she remarkably recovered and finished a fast-closing second, beaten a neck.

Two starts later, this time traveling 1 1/16 miles on the grass at Saratoga Race Course, Towhead technically "won" but did not actually "win" as the race was declared a no-contest due to a bizarre malfunction with the starting gate. During the race, stewards had alerted the outriders of the immobile gate, and the jockeys were waved down to stop their mounts immediately to avoid disaster.

Ever consistent, Towhead placed against maiden company once more, and still a maiden by the books, it was on to the lucrative Kentucky Downs meet. However, the step up to black-type company wouldn't be the biggest obstacle Towhead would face in the $500,000 Aristocrat Gaming Juvenile Fillies Stakes. Instead, the Mike Maker trainee ran through one of the worst rainstorms seen in Kentucky last September as she trudged through swampy turf in barely visible conditions. She was beaten a mere inches by Chop Chop , with the rest of the field swimming up through the bog nine lengths behind. The rest of the races on the Sept. 3 card were canceled.

Following a failed effort in the Jessamine Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland, Maker wheeled the filly back three weeks later in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight on the dirt at Churchill. She was second that afternoon, and nearly a month later, she re-emerged anew.

Blasting to the front in another two-turn maiden contest, Towhead would not be denied this time by a gate malfunction or another late-rallying rival, soaring home a 2 1/4-length winner under the Twin Spires. Shipping into Oaklawn for an allowance optional claimer Jan. 20, she did it again, this time by 3 1/4 lengths after being blockaded behind a wall of horses heading into the stretch.

Ridden back by Isaac Castillo on Saturday, Towhead, campaigned in partnership by Pura Vida Investments, Cindy Hutson, and Brett Setzer, will look to make a splash on this year's Kentucky Oaks (G1) trail in the Honeybee. Carrying a value of 20 points to the winner on a 50-point scale, the first Friday in May would be a fitting plot twist for the revived Towhead.

The task won't be easy. Awaiting Towhead are the 1-2-3 finishers of the Jan. 28 Martha Washington Stakes, led by the runaway winner, the Godolphin-bred Wet Paint . In that effort, the first of Oaklawn's preps on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, Wet Paint trounced stakes winners Defining Purpose  (third) and Olivia Twist  (fifth), both of whom will be poised to rebound.

Last year's Eclipse Award-winning trainer, Todd Pletcher, not one to ship one from his sunny Florida winter base without a legitimate shot, will saddle Repole Stable's Gambling Girl . The Dialed In   filly, a stakes winner against New York-breds, performed admirably against open company in her last two starts, both at Aqueduct Racetrack. She lost by a length when third to highly regarded stablemate Julia Shining  in the Demoiselle Stakes (G2) and was second to rising star Occult  in the Jan. 14 Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct. Four-time Eclipse winner Irad Ortiz Jr. flies into Oaklawn in hopes of landing the Honeybee with Gambling Girl.

Entries: Honeybee S. (G3)

Oaklawn Park, Saturday, February 25, 2023, Race 10

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $300,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 4:43 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Effortlesslyelgant (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	117	Norm W. Casse	20/1
2	2Towhead (KY)	Isaac Castillo	122	Michael J. Maker	9/2
3	3Grand Love (KY)	Joel Rosario	117	Steven M. Asmussen	3/1
4	4Gambling Girl (NY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	117	Todd A. Pletcher	12/1
5	5Condensation (KY)	Francisco Arrieta	122	Chris A. Hartman	12/1
6	6Take Charge Briana (KY)	Mickaelle Michel	117	D. Wayne Lukas	20/1
7	7Wet Paint (KY)	Flavien Prat	122	Brad H. Cox	7/2
8	8Defining Purpose (KY)	David Cabrera	119	Kenneth G. McPeek	9/2
9	9Boss Lady Bailey (KY)	Florent Geroux	117	John Alexander Ortiz	12/1
10	10Doudoudouwanadance (OK)	James Graham	117	Dallas Stewart	20/1
11	11Olivia Twist (KY)	Cristian A. Torres	119	Todd W. Fincher	15/1
12	12Taxed (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	117	Randy L. Morse	15/1