Osare Earns First Stakes Win in Dueling Grounds Oaks

If Bridlewood Farm's Osare has shown anything in her short career, it's that distance is her thing.

The long-striding half sister to champion Arrogate  broke her maiden at 1 1/4 miles in June on the Belmont Park grass, then—despite being green in the stretch, which led to a disqualification—ran well in her first allowance try against winners going 1 3/8 miles in August at Saratoga Race Course.

So the 1 5/16 miles over the undulating turf course at Kentucky Downs suited her just fine Sept. 12, as she collected her first stakes win impressively in the $300,000 Fifth Third Insurance Dueling Grounds Oaks.

After a break from the inside post under jockey Jose Ortiz in the field of 12, the Jonathan Thomas-trained Osare went to the front and took pressure early from favored Pamina and Rahway. Chasing Osare's fractions of :25.36, :51.20, and 1:16.45 through six furlongs took its toll, though, and Osare kicked away to open up a 1 1/2-length advantage through a mile in 1:41.25.

"She felt very nice," Ortiz said. "(At) about the half-mile pole, I felt I had a lot of horse underneath me. Great training job by Jonathan, and I was really happy they came to me to ride this filly. The plan was to be in a forward position, but she broke really well and she put me there."

With Osare's stamina, the stretch run was largely uneventful. Princess Warrior closed from eighth to finish second but never seriously challenged the winner, who finished the distance in 2:15.06 on good turf, 2 3/4 lengths ahead.

"The expectations are a little bit higher when your brother is Arrogate, but we let her kind of come into her own and develop," Thomas said of the Medaglia d'Oro  filly. "She was a filly with a big frame, we gave her time to strengthen up, and these longer races seem to be her forte. So we were waiting for kind of a spot like this, being able to keep her in her own age group going a route of ground."

Sippin Kitten closed from 10th to round out the trifecta, followed by Malibu Saint, Rahway, Over Thinking, Pamina, Lemon Princess, Smart Shot, Cloak of Secrecy, Dothraki Sea, and Heavenly Love.

A race later, Calumet Farm's homebred Channel Cat earned his first stakes win in the Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Derby. An English Channel  colt trained by Todd Pletcher, Channel Cat stalked the early leaders in third, hit the front at the furlong pole, and outdueled the closing Cullum Road to win by a head under jockey Luis Saez. The final time was 2:15.51 for 1 5/16 miles.

"I'd been trying to get him stretched out," Pletcher said. "There are very limited opportunities for 3-year-olds going anything beyond a mile and an eighth on grass. He ran a very respectable fourth in the Belmont Derby (Invitational Stakes, G1T), and we always felt that he's the kind who will get better when he gets older.

"When I saw this race on the calendar, I was like, 'Yeah, this is perfect for this horse.'"