Asmussen, Santana Strike for Stakes Double in Iowa
Image:
Description:
Photo: Coady Photography
She's a Julie runs away with the Iowa Oaks
Trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. paired up to win two of the three stakes for fillies and mares on the July 5 card at Prairie Meadows.
Whispering Oaks Farm's She's a Julie completed the double with a geared-down romp in the $200,000 Iowa Oaks (G3), a race after Mike Rutherford's homebred Dreamcall set the table with her second stakes win in the $100,000 Iowa Distaff Stakes.
With an ideal stalking trip behind longshot early leader Baydar in the 1 1/16-mile Iowa Oaks, She's a Julie cruised by to hit the front late in the final turn without any asking from Santana and glided away from the field in the stretch to win by 5 1/2 lengths.
Cosmic Burst loomed as a threat with a move in the final turn, but could not match strides with She's a Julie and finished second, a length ahead of Hold Her Tight. She's a Julie finished off the distance in 1:43.33 to collect her first stakes win and third victory overall.
"The filly had been running well and Steve had prepared her, obviously, as you could tell on the track," Whispering Oaks owner Carrol Castille said of the Elusive Quality filly, who also won her previous start, an optional-claiming allowance by a neck at Churchill Downs June 3. "He put her in the right spot and she's just been getting better and better every race."
Favored Sassy Sienna, off at 9-5, was in mid-pack early in the race, but struggled to keep up in the final turn and finished seventh, 18 1/2 lengths behind the winner.
Video: Iowa Oaks (G3)
A race prior Dreamcall closed from eight lengths back early to blow by tiring frontrunners Mended and Girl Power in the final furlong of the 1 1/16-mile Distaff.
Girl Power set the pace, but was pressured early by three horses, the widest of which was even-money favorite Mended. Mended nearly overcame a wide trip—she was four wide through much of the first turn and three wide for much of the backstretch run—as she wore down Girl Power in the stretch, but was no match for Dreamcall, who powered past late to win by 4 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:44.38. Girl Power came in third, a half-length behind Mended.
It was the third straight victory for Dreamcall, who is by Midnight Lute . She won an optional-claiming allowance at Oaklawn Park March 3, then followed with her first stakes score in the Jack Bishop at Prairie Meadows May 25.
Video: Iowa Distaff S. (BT)
The third stakes on the card, the six-furlong Saylorville Stakes for fillies and mares 3 and older, was won by 4-5 favorite Golden Mischief. The Juddmonte Farms-owned Into Mischief filly stalked the pace in third, made her move in the turn, and drew off to win by five lengths under jockey Florent Geroux. It was the fifth stakes win for the Brad Cox trainee.