Sarah Sis Heads Iowa Oaks

Joe Ragsdale's Sarah Sis, a grade III winner earlier this year, figures to be the one to beat June 27 in the Iowa Oaks (gr. III) at Prairie Meadows. The daughter of Sharp Humor wired the field in the one-mile Panthers Stakes over the Altoona, Iowa track May 30, giving her a leg up on the competition.



The $200,000 Oaks is part of the Iowa Festival of Thoroughbred Racing that also features the Iowa Derby (gr. III) and Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Stakes (gr. III).



Trainer Ingrid Mason sent out Sarah Sis to win the Honeybee Stakes (gr. III) at Oaklawn Park March 7 after the filly just missed to champion Take Charge Brandi in the one-mile Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn.



The filly was an outsider in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) and was a non-factor, being pulled up by Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens. However, the Kentucky-bred bounced back in the Panthers under Julio Felix, rating a 94 Equibase figure in a 1 3/4-length victory as the 3-5 choice.



Ragsdale, 60, runs Cherokee Measurement and Control in Tulsa, Okla. He's been involved as an owner of Thoroughbreds for less than three years. Ragsdale purchased Sarah Sis for $20,000 at last year's Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s June sale. She is out of the Gilded Time mare Emerald Gal.



Sarah Sis will face the second- and third-place finishers in the Panthers in the Iowa Oaks. Larry Hirsch and Wayne Sanders' Sweet Opportunity was second throughout in the Panthers under Luis Quinonez. The 3-year-old filly by Distorted Humor   has two wins from nine starts to her resume for trainer Donnie Von Hemel.



Panthers third-place finisher, Magnolia Steel, has won three of 10 lifetime starts and earned an allowance win over the surface in late April. The daughter of Include   will break from post 4 under Ramon Vazquez.



Shortleaf Stable's Pangburn figures to be a contender. Beaten only four lengths by grass star Lady Eli last time out in the Wonder Again Stakes at Belmont Park, the Congrats   filly was third in the Honeybee and fourth in the Fantasy Stakes (gr. III) this spring. Last year she was second in the Pocahontas Stakes (gr. II) at Churchill Downs and topped Sweet Opportunity in an allowance race to kick off her 2015 campaign at Oaklawn.



G. Watts Humphrey Jr.'s Sweet Success rates a look off a nice allowance score at seven furlongs at Churchill Downs May 17. Sweet Success, by Candy Ride  , is out of grade III-placed Aspiring, a granddaughter of Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Weekend Surprise.



Sweetgrass, from trainer Ian Wilkes' barn, was sharp in a pair of wins this spring, but was seventh in her stakes debut in the May 15 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (gr. II). Bred by Randy Bloch, she is owned by Bloch, Six Column Stables, John Seiler and Fred Merrit, the team that won the June 13 Matt Winn Stakes (gr. III) with Island Town.