Undefeated Ollie's Candy Scores in Summertime Oaks

A lot was supposed to be working against Paul and Karen Eggert's homebred Ollie's Candy in the $200,000 Summertime Oaks (G2) June 16 at Santa Anita Park.

The Candy Ride  filly took a huge step up in class, stretched out to two turns for the first time, and made her first start on dirt.

But when the Bill Morey-trained filly hooked pacesetter and favorite Thirteen Squared turning for home, she showed she fit.

After a stretch-long duel to the wire with the grade 1-placed Thirteen Squared, it was Ollie's Candy who was a neck on top under jockey Kent Desormeaux, with grade 2 winner Chocolate Martini a nonthreatening third, 4 1/4 lengths back.

"I've worked her a few times (at Santa Anita), and the way she's been working told me she was ready," Desormeaux said. "At the quarter pole, I knew I had a battle in front of me."

Thirteen Squared had plenty in the tank for the final quarter because she got a relatively easy lead after a break from the inside under jockey Tyler Baze. Arnold Zetcher's Bob Baffert-trained Liaison  filly put up fractions of :23.69, :47.96, and 1:12.40 and led by 1 1/2 lengths through six furlongs.

Ollie's Candy, who stalked Thirteen Squared in second through most of the 1 1/16-mile test, kicked in during the second turn, though, and wore down her rival on the outside.

"Looking forward through the rest of the year, all the big races for 3-year-old fillies are going a route of ground, so we decided to try it today," Morey said. "Kent and I have been lucky together. He's ridden the three biggest winners in my life—this one being one of them."

Ollie's Candy began her career with a 6 1/2-length win sprinting over the Golden Gate Fields synthetic main track April 22, then came back to win a first-level optional-claiming allowance at the same six-furlong distance by 7 3/4 lengths May 13. Out of the Stroll  mare Afternoon Stroll, she is undefeated in three starts and has $151,800 in earnings.

"We're all very excited," Paul Eggert said. "Bill has done a great job with the filly. We knew she was game, but I didn't know she was going to be a graded stakes winner. But she is now."

Ollie's Candy is the first graded winner for her owners and the 75th black-type stakes winner for her sire, Candy Ride.

Morning-line favorite Chocolate Martini made a mild move in the final turn, flattened out in the stretch, and just edged Zusha by a neck for third. Fool's Paradise finished fifth to complete the order of finish. Exuberance was pulled up in the stretch.