Ollie's Candy Back for More in Del Mar Oaks

Ollie's Candy went from undefeated to defeated in her last start, but it wasn't for lack of effort.

And when considering all the factors working against her, she probably ran her best race when she came up a neck short to War Heroine in the July 21 San Clemente Stakes (G2T) at Del Mar.

Paul and Karen Eggert's Candy Ride  filly had substantial factors working against her in the one-mile grass test.

From the start, she was making her first start on turf and drew the outside post in a field of 13, almost assuring significant ground loss.

As the race played out, however, jockey Corey Nakatani limited the potential damage and carved out a two-wide trip through the first turn, but she wasn't up near the pace like she was in all three of her previous starts, most notably the June 16 Summertime Oaks (G2). The positioning was important, because at that time during the summer meet, the Del Mar turf course was not playing kindly for closing types.

The second turn didn't go as well as the first, as Nakatani had to swing Ollie's Candy five wide, widest of any filly in the field, but the stretch run was something special. Despite the trip, post, potential speed bias, and lack of familiarity with racing on the surface, Ollie's Candy was the only filly making a substantive run from far back, and she just missed at the wire.

"I think it was (her best race)," said trainer Bill Morey. "We were just very proud of her—the way she ran, the way she finished, the way she was able to overcome. ... It's pretty rare (for a horse to overcome those types of challenges), but it's what the really good ones do."

Although she drew into a relatively cozy post 4 in the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks Presented by The Jockey Club (G1T), the challenges will continue for Ollie's Candy Aug. 18 against a quality field of 12 that features five other stakes winners, graded stakes performers, and an undefeated filly.

Morey said Ollie's Candy, who won her first two races on the Golden Gate Fields synthetic main track and the Summertime Oaks on dirt, will likely stay on grass for the immediate future. But, most importantly, he is enjoying the ride.

BALAN: Undefeated Ollie's Candy Scores in Summertime Oaks

"Any time you've got a filly who is well-bred and a graded winner, you know she's going to have a career as a broodmare someday, and you never know how long you'll have her," Morey said. "It's a great problem to have, but it makes you appreciate what you have for every race."

A pair of fillies exiting the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) figure to be the main challengers for Ollie's Candy, who is favored at 9-2 on the morning line. Fatale Bere and Paved came in sixth and eighth, respectively, at Belmont Park July 7, but each previously had an impressive victory on the Southern California grass.

Fatale Bere took the Providencia Stakes (G3T) by 1 1/2 lengths to kick off her 3-year-old season April 7, but Paved—who finished third in the Providencia—turned the tables on Fatale Bere with a 3 1/2-length score in the June 9 Honeymoon Stakes (G2T).

LARUE: Paved is Concrete in Honeymoon Score

Other stakes winners in the field include Streetwithnoname, who won the Aug. 5 Rupert Dupret Derby against males last time out at Santa Rosa; East Coast invader Colonia, who aced the July 7 Hatoof Stakes at Arlington International Racecourse in her U.S. debut and first start for trainer Graham Motion; and Ms Bad Behavior, the March 10 China Doll Stakes winner at Santa Anita Park who finished second in the Providencia and third in the San Clemente.

Trainer Neil Drysdale entered the undefeated Californiagoldrush, who won her debut sprinting down the Santa Anita hillside turf course and stretched out to two turns to take a Feb. 4 optional-claiming allowance at the same location, for the 1 1/8-mile Del Mar Oaks. Drysdale was going to enter Edgewood Stakes presented by Forcht Bank (G3T) winner Toinette, but a recent illness knocked her out of consideration.

Rounding out the field is graded stakes-placed runners Ms Peintour, Movie Moment, and Animosity; allowance winner Fool's Paradise; and stakes-placed So Hi Society.

Entries: Del Mar Oaks Presented by The Jockey Club (G1T)

Del Mar, Saturday, August 18, 2018, Race 8

• Grade IT
• 1 1/8m
• Turf
• $300,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 5:40 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Ms Peintour (KY)	Tiago Josue Pereira	122	Brian J. Koriner	20/1
2	2Streetwithnoname (KY)	Joseph Talamo	122	Eoin G. Harty	20/1
3	3Fool's Paradise (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	122	Ben D. A. Cecil	20/1
4	4Ollie's Candy (KY)	Tyler Baze	122	William E. Morey	9/2
5	5Fatale Bere (FR)	Kent J. Desormeaux	122	Leonard Powell	6/1
6	6Paved (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	122	Michael W. McCarthy	6/1
7	7Colonia (FR)	Joel Rosario	122	H. Graham Motion	7/2
8	8Californiagoldrush (KY)	Flavien Prat	122	Neil D. Drysdale	8/1
9	9Ms Bad Behavior (ON)	Rafael Bejarano	122	Richard Baltas	6/1
10	10So Hi Society (IRE)	Evin A. Roman	122	Jeff Mullins	12/1
11	11Movie Moment (KY)	Gary L. Stevens	122	John A. Shirreffs	20/1
12	12Animosity (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	122	Patrick Gallagher	8/1