Hot City Girl Speeds to CT Oaks Victory
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Lady Sheila Stables' Hot City Girl sped to the lead in the $350,000 Charles Town Oaks (gr. III) and never relented, securing her first graded score in gate-to-wire fashion.
The victory for the City Zip filly trained by Linda Rice also wrapped up a whirlwind day for jockey Jose Ortiz. Ortiz began the day at Laurel Park, where he won the Commonwealth Cup (gr. IIT) with Mr Speaker and ran second aboard Fundamental in the Commonwealth Derby (gr. IIT), before making his way to West Virginia for the Oaks score, along with a second-place finish with Julie's Jewelry in the $100,000 Pink Ribbon Stakes won by Walk of Stars.
In the seven-furlong Oaks, 7-1 Hot City Girl set fractions of :22.96, :46.74, and 1:10.64 through three quarters of a mile and put away all challengers to hit the wire in 1:23.80. Temper Mint Patty finished second 2 1/2 lengths back, nosing out 40-1 shot Toutsie Rules in a photo.
The winner paid $16.40, $8, and $6.80 across the board. Temper Mint Patty brought $6.40 and $4.40, while Toutsie Rules returned $9.40 to show.
White Clover came in fourth, followed by the top two betting choices in the field of six Fusaichi Red and Sarah Sis. Sarah Sis, a two-time grade III winner this year, went off as the 3-2 favorite and faded harshly in the final turn.
Bred in New York by Eklektikos Stable, out of the Hook and Ladder mare Noble Fire, Hot City Girl now has a 3-2-0 record from nine starts with $344,150 in earnings. She made her graded stakes debut last time out in June, when she ran fifth in the Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont Park.
In other Stakes action on the 12-race Charles Town card Saturday night, four-time graded winner Pants on Fire took the $100,000 Wild and Wonderful Stakes for the second straight year. It was the 8-year-old Jump Start horse's 11th win overall and he now has a bankroll of more than $1.6 million from 35 starts.