Pippin Trio Back in Bayakoa

The first three across the line in Oaklawn Park's Pippin Stakes for older fillies and mares Jan. 14 are back with more on the line Feb. 18 in the $150,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) in Hot Springs. The distance, 1 1/16 miles, remains the same.

The Pippin winner figures to be tough to catch again. Stonestreet Stables’ homebred Terra Promessa took the field wire to wire in her 2017 debut, earning a 100 Equibase Speed Figure in a 2 ¼-length score as the 13-10 favorite. The daughter of top sire Curlin   is unbeaten in four starts at Oaklawn and last year at 3 won the Honeybee Stakes (G3) and Fantasy Stakes (G3) for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Ricardo Santana Jr. returns to ride Terra Promessa and they will break from post 2 in an eight-horse lineup.

Giving chase in the Pippin was runner-up Ready to Confess and third-place finisher Streamline.

Josephine Abercrombie’s Pin Oak Stable's Ready to Confess stalked in third early in the Pippin before getting past Streamline in the lane. She was also third behind Terra Promessa last year in the Fantasy. During the fall she placed in three stakes from Iowa’s Prairie Meadows to New Mexico’s Zia Park for trainer Donnie Von Hemel. A homebred More Than Ready   4-year-old filly, Ready to Confess is out of Abercrombie’s grade 1-winning Confessional, the dam of three other stakes horses.

Nancy Vanier and William Cartwright’s Streamline holds a 1-2-2 slate in five Oaklawn outings. The 5-year-old mare is a hard trier who ran second behind Forever Unbridled in last year’s Apple Blossom Handicap (G1). She was second in last year’s Bayakoa to Call Pat.

Others include Robert Baker and William Mack’s Super Saks, one of two in the cast for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. She, too, has a strong local resume with three wins under her belt at Oaklawn.

Wesley Hawley’s Steel Cut has four wins at Oaklawn and while fourth last time out in the Houston Ladies Classic Stakes, was behind the top-notch Unbridled Mo and I'm a Chatterbox.